The US is the world’s third most popular country for Airbus A380 flights, behind the UAE and UK. According to the latest Cirium Diio data, the US will have an average of 20 daily departures on the superjumbo in the first half of 2026. While likely to change, activity has fallen by a substantial 37% compared to the same six months in 2025.

All Nippon, Asiana, British Airways, Emirates, Korean Air, Lufthansa, and Qantas will all fly the double-decker to the US next year. Ten airports will see it: Boston, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Honolulu, Houston Intercontinental, Los Angeles, Miami, New York JFK, San Francisco, and Washington Dulles. But four of these airports will only have one A380 user.

The 4 Airports With Only 1 A380 Airline

This analysis is based on the entire January-June 2026 period, with Denver, Honolulu, Houston, and Miami having one superjumbo operator. In these six months, these airports will account for just under a quarter of the US’s total A380 departures (24%). Their share has risen from a fifth in the first half of 2025.

As you’d expect, the results would be different at other times. For example, if only January and February were considered, Dallas/Fort Worth, Honolulu, Houston, and Miami would feature. That’s because Lufthansa only uses the A380 to Denver seasonally, while British Airways won’t resume using the type to Dallas until mid-May. When it returns to Dallas, the Texas airport will be off the list as it’ll have two carriers, hence not appearing below.

Lufthansa’s A380s To Denver

The Star Alliance member first used its 509-seat double-decker quadjets on the Star route from Munich to Denver in April 2025. Until then, the Colorado airport had not had any scheduled A380 services. In fact, it was only the second time the airport had seen the type. The first occasion was in 2018, when an Air France A380 diverted from Los Angeles while flying back to Paris CDG.

In 2025, Lufthansa used the type daily between April 30 and October 5, with sub-daily service until October 24. In all, some 167 departures were available. It’ll be a bit different in 2026, with 17% fewer flights. This is because it’ll only be used between June 9 and October 24. There’s more emphasis on the peak summer with greater demand, which is critical in contributing to filling its aircraft.

The A380’s shorter season is unsurprising. According to US Department of Transportation data, Lufthansa only filled 66% of its Munich-Denver seats in May 2025. This resulted from deploying the much higher-capacity equipment than the 293-seat/318-seat A350-900 that operated before. In May 2024, the route’s seat factor was 85%.

Emirates’ A380s To Houston

Houston is the only Texas city to see Emirates’ double-deckers, but that was not always the case. It used the type between Dubai and Dallas/Fort Worth from 2014 to 2016. In fact, Dallas saw the A380 two months before Houston did, not that it actually matters.

Emirates briefly served Houston twice daily in 2010/2010, when the 777-200LR was used. But for the most part, it has always been daily, which continues now. In the first half of 2026, EK211 will mainly leave Dubai at 9:30 am and arrive in Houston at 4:50 pm local time. Returning, EK212 will primarily depart at 7:55 pm and get back at 7:45 pm+1 local time.

US DOT data for October 2024 to September 2025 shows that Emirates carried 253,000 passengers to/from Houston. However, the same source shows it filled a ridiculous 67% of the available seats, down one point compared to the prior 12-month period.

Was this an error, or does it really perform that poorly? Of course, it does not indicate the loads per cabin. It is theoretically possible that its first and business cabins perform very well. But given that an estimated 70% of passengers connected to another flight in Dubai, particularly to South Asia, is this really likely? Something is up, or it’d have simply switched to lower-capacity equipment.