Dubai: Emirates has doubled its A380 capacity to New York’s John F. Kennedy and Paris’ Charles De Gaulle airports with a twice daily A380 service from Dubai now operating into both cities.

Upgrading capacity to New York by 1,848 seats per week, flights EK203 and EK204 will now be operated by the Airbus A380-800. EK203 departs from Dubai at 2.25am, arriving at JFK at 7.45am. The return sector EK204 leaves JFK at 10.40pm, arriving in Dubai at 8.10am the next day.

In Paris, an additional 2,198 seats per week will be added; EK 075 leaves Dubai at 3pm and arrives in Paris at 7.30pm. The return flight, EK 076 departs Paris at 9pm and reaches Dubai at 6.40am the next day.

“The decision to commit a second A380 to both New York and Paris is a clear indication of customer demand for the state-of-the-art aircraft and these two popular destinations,” said Thierry Antinori, Emirates’ executive vice-president, passenger sales worldwide. “New York and Paris are both important routes for Emirates and its customers. Adding larger capacity aircraft is central to helping us meet growing passenger demand and will also boost economic support for American and French international commerce.”

With the world’s largest fleet of A380 aircraft at 31 and another 59 on order, Emirates continues to set the pace for A380 deployment. In the four years since the Emirates A380 has been in operation, over 11.5 million passengers have flown on the aircraft, covering 169 million kilometres. In 2012 alone, Emirates added 11 A380s to its fleet.

“Emirates has redefined air travel and we look forward to offering the unique A380 experience to even more of our passengers on the Paris and New York routes with the exceptional and innovative features we offer on board, including the industry first Shower Spas, the First and Business Class On Board lounge and an award-winning in-flight system offering 1,400 channels of on-demand entertainment. Combine this with our gourmet cuisine as well as a network spanning six continents, and you have a product which has become extremely popular with our global travellers.”