http://www.financialexpress.com/news/govt-lifts-ban-on-airbus-a380-superjumbos-may-hurt-air-india/1220953

lots of things still to untangle before the first a380 can land here. the bilaterals need fixing: lufthansa's and emirates'. sq may be able to put in an a380 soon though.

Is there presently enough demand for A380 service?

I think with Germany the bilateral says any 747 variant which is why they are flying their newest 747-8 to India instead of the A380

DEL is definitely A380 ready (terminal and airfield), HYD and BOMs taxiways and aprons are A380 certified, I'm sure the terminals (especially the new BOM T2) is ready too. HYD has seen some A380 diversion action from EK, MS and SQ.

Demand for such capacity is certainly an issue.

There's always demand at Emirates

True - subsidies do wonders!

its about time....

All related to LH letting AI give Star a go again.

Hey Folks

For the last week or so, Devesh Agarwal (from Bangalore Aviation) and myself have been working on this piece, analysing in detail which airlines will ultimately start their A380 operations into the country.

Although couple of them have already publicly expressed their intentions of doing so, we have tried to go deeper and also find out other possible players.

http://vishal1mehra.com/2014/02/05/a380-india/

Your feedback/comments is always welcome.

Interesting analysis. I have a few of my own comments based on anecdotal evidence.

Hyderabad: The only airline which can fly 380 is EK. However this can be possible only if GoI increases the bilateral seats. There is a possibility that EK may try to fly one 380 and other two as 330.

Bangalore: Again the same analysis as above for EK. The only other airline which is likely is LH. My view is that they will first fly to DEL and see the response/economics etc and then concentrate on BLR. BA is unlikely to upgrade this route any time soon.

Mumbai: EK, QR, BA and SQ are possibilities. Definitely EK, even without any increase in bilaterals. SQ may be. BA is a possibility, however there is intense competition. LH is unlikely, their priority is DEL and then BLR. I think even the 747 may be downgraded, I have flown this route 3 times and every time the flight was half empty and business class too.

Delhi: I believe DEL will be first city to get 380. LH will be the first airline. EK is a possibility, but not likely. Same with BA.

Chennai: Same scenario as Hyderabad, whenever the airport is upgraded.

What subsidies???? Id like to see some proof besides just repeating what you read on FT or what other less successful airlines say.

There are no subsidies, and ek is doing very very well. The government of Abu Dhabi would step in if there was any issue with ek but they are making a lot if money and the planes nearly always go out full.

Del is often oversold I would imagine ek could easily put a 380 on that route.

Did you mean Dubai? Or did you mean EY?

Thank you for your feedback.