Airbus A380 flights to Sydney / Melbourne

CHINA SOUTHERN A380-841 B-6139 (MSN 088)

China Southern Airlines resumed A380 services to Sydney last weekend. The airline once offered multiple daily services to Sydney, most flights using the A380s. Now, China Southern Airlines is down to one flight a week. That flight had lately been operated by Airbus A350-900 aircraft. But last weekend, China Southern began using one of its A380s again. B-6139 was the operating aircraft. Like all Chinese airlines with international networks, China Southern Airlines is only allowed to fly once a week on each of its international routes. The Chinese Government sets that rule under a so-called “Five One” policy administered by the Civil Aviation Administration of China. At the other end of this route, the Australian Government has capped the number of passengers allowed to arrive in the country each week. Just 3,035 passengers are allowed to fly to Australia on scheduled airline flights each week. Of that number, 1,505 passengers can arrive in Sydney. 

EMIRATES A380-861 A6-EDO (MSN 057)

In a rare bit of airline optimism, Dubai-based Emirates has flagged the resumption of regular Airbus A380 flights to their key Australian destinations of Sydney and Melbourne later this year. Once ubiquitous at both airports, the Emirates A380 is now an unusual sight in Australia. That is set to change in December. Emirates has maintained flights to Australia since the start of the travel downturn. But the airline has downsized its schedules, aircraft types, and network in Australia. Except for occasional visits, the once familiar Emirates A380s have disappeared from Australian skies.

It’s a big downgrade from 2019. Then, larger airports like Sydney and Melbourne would see several Emirates flights each day. A380s operated many of those flights. These days Emirates sends one of its Boeing 777s down to Sydney (SYD) four times a week, Melbourne (MEL) three times a week, Brisbane (BNE) twice a week, and Perth (PER) twice a week. Emirates flights to Adelaide (ADL) remain suspended.