Emirates expands service, adds A380 to more destinations

Emirates will be layering on more retrofitted Boeing 777s and Airbus A380s on its existing schedules to Shanghai and Zurich, expanding Milan, Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires schedules, and upgrading its services to Shanghai and Singapore with A380 deployments.

Emirates’ latest schedule, capacity enhancements and newly retrofitted aircraft deployments are in response to increased demand across the airline’s network.

The airline's ambitious retrofit programme is progressing with remarkable momentum, as one aircraft undergoes a comprehensive nose-to-tail refresh every three weeks. Emirates’ engineering teams have retrofitted 60 aircraft since the start of the programme in November 2022.

Emirates’ latest schedule enhancements, all effective from October 26, include:

• Milan: Addition of a third daily flight, EK 101/102. The third daily flight will be served with a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.

• Emirates’ linked services to Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires, EK247/248, will become daily flights.

• After being served with a retrofitted Boeing 777 from July 20, the airline will upgrade its services to Shanghai on the EK302/303 to the Airbus A380, and the airline’s second daily flight to the city, EK 304/305, will be served with a retrofitted Boeing 777 aircraft.

• From this winter, the third daily flight between Dubai and Singapore will be served with the A380 on the EK 314/315.

Emirates will upgrade its second daily Zurich flight, EK 85/86, from February 1, 2026 to an A380, replacing the current retrofitted Boeing 777 aircraft. Premium Economy will debut on Emirates flight EK87/88 with a newly retrofitted A380, also starting from February 1, 2026.

Strong results

Emirates Group achieved new record profit, EBITDA, revenue, and cash balance levels earlier this year. For the financial year ended March 31, 2025, the Emirates Group reported record profit before tax of Dh22.7 billion, up 18 percent from last year. The group also posted record revenue of Dh145.4 billion, up 6 percent over last year’s results

Emirates airline, meanwhile, posted record profit before tax of Dh21.2 billion, up 20 percent from last year. Revenue stood at Dh127.9 billion, an increase of 6 percent over last year.