Emirates' Milan/New York flight will no longer be operated with the A380

Bad news for all Italian travelers and especially for all serial accumulators of points and miles. From next Oct. 29, which is the day when the winter schedule will start., the fifth freedom flight: Emirates' Milan Malpensa / New York JFK appears to be operated with the Boeing 777/300 and no longer with the A380.

Except for a brief interlude during the pandemic, this route has always been operated with the flagship of EK's fleet.

Of course, it will also be an icy shower for all those who have already booked a flight as of the change date and will find themselves booked no longer on the A380, but on the 777.

The situation

In recent days, a reader wrote to me to report that. did not see the possibility of booking a flight next spring aboard the A380, but only on the 777. At first I thought it was a reader's error, but then I had to reconsider, since going to simulate reservations the flight appears to be scheduled on the smallest aircraft in the fleet, namely the B777/300.

It is likely that the motivation behind this decision is a Capacity adjustment according to reduced demand in low season. Last January we flew this route several times and the planes were really empty. In one case there were less than 80 passengers in total aboard the giant of the skies.

The most worrying thing is that with the return to the summer schedule in 2024, the flight is found to be operated with the Boeing 777/300 all the time: of course, it will have to be seen in the coming months whether something will change or not.

Two profoundly different aircraft

Flying on Emirates' 777 is not the same as flying on the A380. From economy to first class, the onboard experience is markedly inferior in all respects. EK offers the best economy class cabin in the world aboard the A380, an experience that you don't get aboard the 777.

Premium passengers will also be disappointed, however, as 777 business class has no bar on board and has The very bad 2-3-2 configuration, one of the worst in the world.

In first class, the seat remains the same, but the shower disappears. For the same ticket cost or points required is a downgrade in service.

To mitigate the disappointment, Emirates may bring on this route. the 777/300s equipped with the crazy first-class cabin called "gamechanger", by doing so you will miss the shower, but you will gain an experience that is second only to To the best first-class canbine in the world, that of Singapore.

Also gone is the option to fly in the new premium economy, a cabin that is being installed on almost the entire A380 fleet.

Milan New York super busy

One of the reasons that certainly prompted EK to make this change is definitely. the much competition on this route, now operated by 7 carriers in total. In more than 10 years, the Dubai airline has practically always flown the A380, unlike the Athens/New York flight, which is operated with the B777.

For Malpensa and for spotters, it's bad news because the A380 presence is halved at the airport in the province of Varese. Today Ek is the only carrier flying with the giant made-in-Europe at this airport with its two daily flights from Dubai, one of them continuing on to New York JFK.

In conclusion

Of course, in the coming years Emirates will have a more diverse fleet consisting also of A350s and 777xs, but at the moment there is no certainty for the entry of these new machines into the fleet. Given that Malpensa continues to fall outside ITA Airways' development plans and that the route to New York, by number of carriers, is as busy as from London Heathrow, it is to be expected that others will try to fill the seat vacancy left by Emirates.