Featured Map for 1 January 2015:
A380s at Heathrow

London Heathrow is not the airport with the most flights in the Airbus A380: that honor goes to Dubai with 54 daily departures as of 5 December 2014 (A380Flights.net), thanks mostly to it being the hub for Emirates and their fleet of 57 A380s. Heathrow is second, however, with 18 daily A380 departures, and Heathrow is often sited as the best example of the sort of airport for which the A380 was built: "dense, high-yield traffic flows and severe capacity limitations."

Today's Featured Map shows where the six airlines flying A380s to Heathrow are flying them. Unsurprisingly, British Airways (navy blue) accounts for one-third of the departures with six to five destinations (two to Los Angeles) but Emirates is close with five, plus Emirates also serves London Gatwick with the A380. Heathrow to Dubai has an amazing seven A380 flights, with Qantas adding two departures (which continue on to Sydney and Melbourne, respectively) to the five by Emirates. Singpore also has A380 service by two airlines from Heathrow, with Singapore Airlines offering two flights per day plus one by British Airways.

British Airways plans to add A380 service to San Francisco in March.

A380 operations at Heathrow are not without challenges, however, as detailed in an Aviation Week article. Paradoxically, some opine that the busiest intercontinental air route, from Heathrow to New York JFK, is a poor candidate for the A380.

References and additional information:

• Airbus
  • A380 Family
  • Where is the A380 flying?
• Emirates Fleet – Planespotters.net
• A380 Flights: Airports – A380 Flights
• British Airways
  • Airbus A380 | British Airways Fleet
• Emirates
  • Emirates A380 Hub
  • Emirates A380
• Malaysia Airlines
• Singapore Airlines
• Qantas
• Qatar
• A380 Continues To Pose Challenges For Heathrow – Aviation Week (1 September 2014)
• Simon Calder: Why the biggest plane in the world isn't right for the busiest route – The Independent (10 May 2014)