Everyone knows that 
Emirates is overwhelmingly the world’s largest Airbus A380 user. According to ch-aviation, it has 116 double-deckers, not all of which are operational. The number of seats varies from ‘just’ 468 in a four-class configuration, to a whopping 615 in a two-class layout.
Emirates has revealed that it’ll fly its low-premium, high-capacity, 615-seater between 
Dubai and Munich, which is Europe’s 11th busiest airport based on 2024 passenger traffic. Cirium Diio shows it was regularly used on that route until March 2025, with flights now returning in January. Fellow UAE carrier Etihad has added a third daily flight from Abu Dhabi to Munich, albeit on the A321LR.
Emirates’ A380s To Munich
The Gulf carrier has two daily flights to 
Munich, both of which are on the A380. Cirium shows that the superjumbo has been flying to the Bavarian airport since November 2011. The route last saw other equipment in late 2022, when the Boeing 777-300ER was deployed.
Emirates first used the 615-seat A380 to Munich in May 2024. Between January 1, 2026, and March 28, 2026, the non-first-class, 615-seater will be seen there again. It will be the third German airport with the configuration’s flights in Q1, alongside Düsseldorf (daily) and Frankfurt (just once a week).
The higher-capacity frames mean Emirates plans 197,000 seats to/from Munich in the date period mentioned above. This means the German airport will be the airline’s 11th most-served European destination by seat capacity, behind London Heathrow, Manchester, Paris CDG, London Gatwick, Amsterdam, Moscow Domodedovo, Milan Malpensa, Frankfurt, Istanbul Airport (on the European side of the Bosphorus), and Barcelona.
|
Frequency |
Dubai To Munich; Local Times* |
Munich To Dubai; Local Times** |
|---|---|---|
|
Daily |
8:40 am-12:30 pm (517-seat A380) |
2:30 pm-11:25 pm (517-seat A380) |
|
Daily |
3:50 pm-7:30 pm (615-seat A380) |
9:25 pm-6:35 am+1 (615-seat A380) |
|
* In January. Shown in Simple Flying’s new time format |
** In January. Shown in Simple Flying’s new time format |
Where Emirates’ Munich Passengers Go
Germany is a very popular country for inbound local traffic to Dubai, which obviously primarily concerns tourists. According to booking data for the 12 months to September, approximately 275,000 of Emirates’ Munich passengers only flew to/from the ever-popular destination. They did not fly elsewhere.
An estimated 355,000 passengers connected to another flight in Dubai. Booking data suggests that Munich’s top ten country markets were the Maldives, India, Australia, Thailand, Mauritius, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Seychelles, China, and Vietnam.
The ten most popular destinations were Malé, Mauritius, Bangkok, Colombo, Seychelles, Bali/Denpasar, Phuket, Sydney, Ho Chi Minh City, and Singapore. As you can see, leisure destinations were particularly important. Booking indicates that Emirates transported more Munich passengers to these places than any other airline.
Wow: New York JFK Has Lost 3 Airbus A380 Airlines In A Year
Asiana, Etihad, and Lufthansa have all stopped using the type there, at least for now.
Emirates’ 615-Seater Network: Q1 2026
According to ch-aviation, Emirates has 15 A380s with 615 seats. Each frame has the same layout: 58 business seats (far fewer than its multiple other superjumbo configurations) and a whopping 557 seats in economy. It has more economy seats than the total seats on its other A380s and the double-deckers of all other operators.
Naturally, the 615-seater is primarily deployed to very high-volume, lower-yielding, lower-premium, and typically more leisure-driven destinations. It trades significantly higher seat volume for lower seat revenue. If yields are lower, volume is usually higher to offset it. To make it worthwhile, it must consistently fill enough seats, which is a tall order when it has so many of them.
Let’s stick to the same January 1-March 28 period. During this time, Emirates’ 615-seaters will be flown to 14 airports from Dubai, which has one of the world’s least diverse ranges of A380 operators. Rome Fiumicino will only see the 615-seater once (January 3), while the airline’s daily operation to both Copenhagen and Prague will be exclusively on it.