Dubai: Emirates is set to operate its shortest-ever Airbus A380 service next week, deploying the double-decker aircraft on a brief two-and-a-half-hour flight between Dubai and Madinah in Saudi Arabia, in an unusual move aimed at meeting surging demand for Umrah travel.

The one-off service is scheduled to operate on December 25, when the airline will fly the four-engine A380 from its Dubai hub to Medina, marking the shortest flight in Emirates’ global network to be operated by the superjumbo during the current month.

According to aviation data platforms Simple Flying and Cirium, the flight will take just 150 minutes, making it temporarily the airline’s shortest A380 route by block time.

The aircraft assigned to the service will be configured with 615 seats, replacing a Boeing 777-300ER that typically operates the route with a capacity of 421 seats and no first-class cabin.

The decision comes following the exceptionally high demand from a large tour group travelling to perform Umrah, prompting Emirates to upgauge the aircraft despite the route’s short duration, a rarity for the A380, which is usually deployed on long-haul, high-density international services.

While Emirates has operated the A380 to Madinah on limited occasions in the past, the deployment has been infrequent and largely seasonal. The aircraft was used once in 2017, twice in 2019, and twice again during 2025, according to available flight data. Notably, the airline has never previously operated the A380 to Madinah in December, making the upcoming service an unprecedented move for this time of year.

A review of Emirates’ schedules shows that the Dubai–Medina flight will undercut the airline’s other short A380 routes. The next shortest is Jeddah-Dubai, at approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes, followed by Amman-Dubai (2 hours 55 minutes), Dubai–Mumbai (3 hours 5 minutes), and Cairo-Dubai (3 hours 15 minutes).

Emirates operates the world’s largest fleet of Airbus A380s, with multiple cabin configurations. These range from four-class layouts seating 468 passengers to high-density, two-class configurations accommodating up to 615 seats, without a first-class cabin.

Infographic: 737 Max to be cleared to fly in Europe