Emirates has started the world's shortest A380 route from Dubai to Muscat – and has released a number of fascinating facts to mark the occasion.
The twice-daily flight from the UAE to the Omani capital spends less than an hour in the air as it makes its way across the 340 kilometres separating the two cities.
Emirates revealed the following nuggets of information relating to the flight:
• The wiring on an Airbus A380 (500km) is longer than the distance between Dubai and Muscat (340km)
• The average flight time (40 minutes) between Dubai and Muscat is only five minutes more than the time taken to clean an Airbus A380 by a team of 42 people
• More than 25,000 items of catering are loaded on to the A380 flying from Dubai to Muscat
• You have to fly 3,000 times between Dubai and Muscat to watch the complete ice film catalogue
• Emirates has flown more than 4.7 million customers between Dubai and Muscat since 1993. That’s the capacity of nearly 9,000 Emirates Airbus A380s
• More than 128 million customers have flown on Emirates' Airbus A380 since 2008. That’s nine times more than the populations of Oman and UAE combined
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A380 through the years
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Airbus will stop production of its A380 superjet by 2021 Reuters -
People look at a Emirates A380 airbus landing in Nice, south of France. AFP -
Sheikh Mohammed takes a tour of an Emirates A380 during the opening ceremony of the Dubai Airshow in 2013. AFP -
A visitor poses for a photo in front of an Emirates A380 Airbus passenger aircraft decorated with a giant portrait of UAE founding father Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan. AFP -
Airbus and Emirates celebrate the 100th A380 in 2018. Courtesy Emirates -
The A380 is the World biggest passenger jet . AP -
Emirates will receive 14 more A380s from Airbus before the plane maker ends production. Courtesy Emirates -
Airbus said Thursday it will stop making A380 superjumbo jets in 2021 after struggling to win clients. AP Photo -
Interior of Business Class on an Emirates A380. Courtesy: Emirates -
Interior of Business Class on Emirates A380. Courtsey: Emirates -
An air stewardess arranges bedsheets of a double bed in a suite of Singapore Airlines' new Airbus A380 during a tour of the plane at Changi Airport in Singapore. AFP -
An Airbus A380, the largest passenger jet in the world, in Dubai. The airline topped a list of attractive employers in a recent survey of Gen Y and Gen Z. EPA -
The special Emirates A380 will be in service with the Real Madrid decal for six months. Courtesy Emirates -
United for Wildlife Emirates A380 before its first flight to London. Courtesy Emirates Airline -
An Etihad Airways A380 at the Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Christopher Pike / The National -
A Singapore Airlines Airbus in the snow at JFK, 2018. Reuters -
Etihad Airways economy on an A380. Courtesy Etihad -
The Lobby of an Etihad Airways A380. AFP -
Aermacchi MB-339 jets from UAE's Al-Fursan display team perform with an Airbus A380 from Etihad Airways before the start of the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix at the Yas Marina circuit. AFP -
An Emirates Airbus A380 plane in Beirut, Lebanon. AP Photo -
An Emirates Airline A-380 leads UAE's "Al Fursan" aerobatic display team, during the opening day of the Dubai Air Show. AP Photo -
The tail of the Airbus A-380 at the 46th Paris Air Show. Getty Images -
An Emirates Airbus A380 plane is seen at Nice International airport in Nice, France. REUTERS -
An Airbus SAS A380 super jumbo performs a flying display on day two of the 51st International Paris Air Show in Paris, France. Bloomberg -
Line Emirates is one of the airlines included in the TSA's emergency order. Courtesy Emirates -
Tthe A380 has been Airbus’s flagship project for the past two decades. Bloomberg -
A British Airways A380. Courtesy British Airways -
A Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 at Beijing airport. AFP -
New wheels on the Emirates A380. Courtesy Emirates -
At Dubai's Miracle Garden, more than five million flowers were grown to produce a full-size Emirates Airbus A380. Courtesy Guinness World Records
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The aircraft is configured with 429 economy seats on the lower deck. Upstairs, there are 76 business class flatbed seats and 14 first class private suites, meaning more than 2,000 passengers will be able to fly the route each day.
Passengers on Emirates flight EK862 will leave Dubai at 8.25am, landing in Muscat by 9.40am. The return flight will depart Oman at 11.15am and land in the UAE at 12.25pm.
A second daily flight will depart Dubai at 4.10pm and land in Muscat by 5.25pm. The return leg leaves Muscat at 7.05pm, and lands in Dubai by 8.15pm.
The twice-daily schedule runs until around late October, when the winter timetable commences.
Emirates' longest A380 flight is to Auckland in New Zealand, which takes 17 hours and 5 minutes.
The A380 will remain a "pillar" of Emirates' fleet until the 2030s", Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman and chief executive of the airline, said earlier this year, at the time it was confirmed Airbus was to scrap production of the superjumbo.
Emirates also confirmed last month that it is in talks with Boeing over renegotiating its order for 150 of the new 777X model due for launch next year.
The Dubai carrier has, however, been adding A380 services recently, with flights added to Amman in Jordan, and Boston in the US.
