Emirates begins world’s shortest A380 route to Doha

Emirates launched the world’s shortest scheduled A380 service from Dubai to Doha on December 1.

The A380 flight touched down on Thursday morning at Doha’s Hamad International Airport to a water cannon welcome.

The route – a distance of 379 kilometres – includes a total travel time of one hour and 20 minutes from Dubai to Doha, and one hour 10 minutes on the return journey.

Outbound flight EK841 departs Dubai at 0745hrs, arriving in Doha at 0805hrs. The return flight, EK842, departs Doha at 0950hrs, arriving in Dubai at 1200hrs.

The Emirates A380 serving Doha operates in a three-class configuration, with 429 economy seats, 76 flat-bed seats in business class and 14 first class private suites.

The timing of the A380 service means customers from Doha flying to destinations like New York, London Heathrow, Frankfurt, Manchester, Dusseldorf, Milan, Paris, Rome and Amsterdam, can now have the choice of ‘all A380’ flight itineraries for their journeys, Emirates said in a statement.

The added capacity will also cater to increasing demand on the route.

Emirates currently operates nine daily flights to Doha, making it the most served destination in the airline’s network.

In the last five years, Emirates has carried over 3.7 million passengers between the two cities.

The double-decker A380 is the world’s largest commercial aircraft in service, and Emirates is the largest operator of the aircraft worldwide. The airline currently operates the A380 to over 45 global destinations.

It has 87 A380s in service and 55 pending delivery.