Aircraft rotation
 

Hi all,

my next trip on EK is getting closer and closer. How does EK schedule their air craft ? Any idea wich A388 is schedule for EK 435 ex BNE April 30 ? Noticed the latest A388 arrived in BNE today so am hoping same air craft will be back in 10 days time.

Cheers from Brisbane,

pswissoz

I doubt if even EK themselves know except the day before. The best way would be to check the a/c for incoming 434 which would turn around at AKL as 435.

That is what I'll do. Is that common for an airline to work out the rotation of their fleet on such short notice ?

Cheers from Brisbane,

pswissoz

I am sure they have their a/c schedules worked out in advance but its not shared publicly. So, the best way right now would be to check the incoming a/c from DXB.

EK have 60 A380s in service, unlike QF small fleet that allows to guess few days in advance which rego it will be (MEL-LHR-SYD-LAX-etc or something like that).

Last minute swaps with EK are pretty common, even at the turnaround in AKL. So you can't be certain about the rego until AKL-BNE departs.

Do EK try to fix it so that newer 380s operate 'prestige' routes? For example, am I more likely to get one with the new 'iPad' controllers in J and F on a route like LHRDXB, or do they not segregate like this?

It doesn't seem so - the only guarantees are for operational reasons, e.g. for ULH routes to the US, ULH configured planes are required with crew rests, which are mostly all the new series A380s with the newer controller types.

Not really. Even on a premium sector like DXB-JFK (F/J full almost daily on all flights), I still had the old A380 on both my onward (203) and return (208).

I'll just try to contain my excitement for another 10 days and enjoy a couple of drinks in the bar on my way to DXB.

Cheers from Brisbane,

pswissoz

Sorry to disappoint you further pswissoz, but according to EK Source, the flight seems to be operated predominantly by the old a/c. Here is wishing that they put one of the new a/c on the day you are flying ;)
http://www.theeksource.com/flighttracker.html

Hi Jackiedada, thanks for providing the link to The EK Source. Still hopeful for a "new" A380. Tonight's EK 435 is operated by A6-EOO. By the way, which A380 registrations are "old" A380 and which are the "new" ones ? Is there a major difference with the business class seats and the inflight entertainment ?

Will be my first time flying on EK BNE-DXB-HAM after my last 7-10 trips in the last years were always QF/AY BNE-SIN-HEL-HAM.

Cheers from Brisbane,

pswissoz

Hi there pswissoz, I know we all tend to have different priorities when travelling, so this may or may not be relevant to you : after many years of Emirates experience (albeit not as many as some here .....), my thoughts are always about the type of crew I'll find onboard, rather than the exact variation of equipment type !!

For me, it's the crew - over and above everything else - that determines the 'quality' of a flight.

And on Emirates, I think it's fair to say that the crew can be anywhere within a range encompassing the exceptionally good to the distinctly average........

PS. very much doubt there will be any difference in the ICE or seats across A380 variants, but others will confirm.

I believe all EK 380s have the same ICE entertainment system and screen sizes etc, the only potential difference is an updated 'controller' on newer aircraft.

I think the screen is bigger. The seat is slightly different and the meal tray is different too.

The newer planes come with the Panasonic eX3 system - the differences are most noticeable in Y where they are paired with the Elite 12.1'' display and handset - also in J/F I think they are capable of 1080p, instead of 720p only in Y. Of course, I am not sure exactly what format the content is stored on the onboard server though. However, across the plane there are differences, most noticeably in the backend server - it's faster, basically.

Older models have the eX2 system and older hardware: still functional, but still noticeably slower than the newest systems. Also in Y, the screen size is I think 11.1''.