David Eyre 
The aircraft had been en-route from Dubai to Sydney was forced to divert to Perth Airport at 6am, after a female passenger was thought to have suffered a stroke (later found to be a virus). This was the second visit by an A380 (first was a promotional visit by VH-OQA of Qantas on 14 October 2008) and the first by an Emirates A380. The Airbus departed for Sydney at 4:37 pm.
Photo © John Krepp
Emirates’ president Tim Clark recently confirmed that the airline plans to start Airbus A380 services to Perth , replacing one of the Boeing 777-300ER and 777-200LR services currently on one of their three daily services between Perth and Dubai.
Although Perth Airport’s runways and taxiways are capable of handling the A380, the airport does not yet have a special split-level A380 aerobridge boarding gate, required to enable passenger loading to both decks simultaneously.
The A380 aerobridge is to be positioned at Gate 51, where the new Virgin Australia Domestic Pier connects to Terminal 1 (the International Terminal). It was originally due to be completed as part of Perth Airport’s $700 million redevelopment in June 2013, but in December 2012, the airport advised that the aerobridge would not be ready until November 2013.
The airport has now announced that although the A380 gate would be ready by November 2013, the international terminal redevelopment and Emirates business class lounge will not be ready until March 2014, so they are negotiating a later start date for A380 services.
The A380 is popular with passengers, who prefer its quieter and more spacious interior. The A380 has a 10-abreast seating configuration as used in the Boeing 777, but the 777 is narrower, making it somewhat less comfortable. Business class passengers also prefer the fully flat beds in the A380, compared to the angled lie-flat seats in the Boeing 777.
Interesting observation re the 777 – in the 300ER Emirates configure with 10 across using 17.5 inch wide seats. SQ use 19 inch seats 9 abreast, as do Virgin on the same aircraft. Cathay has 18.5 inch 9 abreast and Delta has 18.5 9 abreast (200ER).
It is now July 2014. When will the A380 be ready to fly into Perth? The 777 are terrible for such a long haul flight.
Hi Brett,
Please refer to comments under this updated article
Regards,
David Eyre
Hi,
My family and I are flying to New York in October 2014.
Will the A380 be flying then?
Please refer to this updated article
Quoted from an article on news website WA Today, dated 23 June 2014:
“An Emirates spokeswoman declined to say whether the airline still planned to bring an A380 to Perth.
“Emirates is continually in dialogue with airports around the world and is always assessing its operations, however there is nothing to announce at this stage regarding the possibility of operating an A380 to Perth,” she said.”
Regards,
David Eyre
I am flying emirates from perth to dubai on the 20th march but it seems mine is the standard 777 ??? and yes they are uncomfortable planes and the A380s are superior for space .. am bummed its not the A380
Hi Deborah,
The A380 services were allocated official departure slots from 29 March, but these may or may not be taken up. There has been no official confirmation of A380 start date from Emirates and their booking system still shows Boeing 777-300ER aircraft throughout the year.
Regards,
David Eyre
Will any airline be offering premium economy for passengers flying out of perth to asia and europe
Hi Phil,
From Perth, a number of airlines offer seats with extra legroom – usually those near the forward bulkheads of each cabin section, and at emergency exits, but these are not ‘premium economy’.
Some of the low-cost airlines offer their version of “business class”, which is similar in some ways to premium economy on the full-cost airlines – AirAsia X for example.
China Southern offers premium economy seats out of Perth to Guangzhou and Beijing, and onwards to Europe.
Cathay Pacific offers premium economy only on selected examples of their A330-300 aircraft.
I don’t know of any others.
Regards,
David
I fly to perth on emerates on 25 march will the air bridge be ready by then
Hi Anthony,
Media reports indicated that Emirates would commence A380 services on the EK420 service from 1 March 2013, but there has not yet been any official confirmation of this from Emirates. A check of the Emirates booking system does not yet show any A380 services in 2014.
However, I am told that Emirates is the main user of the new A380-capable airbridge that recently opened, albeit with Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.
Regards,
David Eyre
Hi tony smith again..willthe a380 be flying from perth for my return journy on 5th may.hop e so as the 777 we flewon coming out here was about the most uncomforable thing I have ever traveled on.
Hi Tony,
We have no further A380 updates at the moment, but will update this website as soon as we hear anything.
Regards,
David Eyre