en.Wedoany.com Reported - Melbourne Airport (MEL) is set to see an approximately 32% increase in Airbus A380 flights during the Southern Hemisphere summer from November 2026 to March 2027. Data from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows the airport has 449 scheduled A380 departures during this period, compared with 340 in the same period 12 months earlier.

Among the drivers of this growth, Emirates operates two daily flights from Dubai International Airport (DXB) to Melbourne, while Singapore Airlines resumed its daily A380 service from Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) in March this year. Meanwhile, Qantas will withdraw its A380 service from Melbourne to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) starting October this year, with the route switching to the Boeing 787-9.

The reason for Qantas's route adjustment is its plan to concentrate its A380 fleet at its largest hub, Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD). Several long-haul international A380 routes from Sydney will be retained, including destinations such as Singapore, London, Johannesburg, and Los Angeles, along with seasonal services to cities like Tokyo and additional ad-hoc flights. As a result, the net increase in A380 flights at Melbourne comes from Singapore Airlines' resumption rather than Qantas.

Emirates remains the world's largest A380 operator, with more than 100 of the aircraft type in its fleet. The airline channels Melbourne passengers through its Dubai hub to multiple destinations across Europe, Africa, and the Indian subcontinent. In Australia, Emirates serves five gateway airports: Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide, with A380 services operating to Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney. Singapore Airlines is the largest foreign carrier operating Australian routes, with direct flights from Singapore to Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney. The airline uses the A380 on its Melbourne and Sydney routes, with other aircraft types also deployed on some services. Additionally, Singapore Airlines will become the first long-haul carrier to serve Western Sydney Airport (WSI) starting November 23.

Including Qantas, a total of five airlines have operated the A380 at Melbourne Airport. These five are China Southern Airlines, Etihad Airways, Malaysia Airlines, Qatar Airways, and Qantas. China Southern Airlines operated the aircraft type on the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN) to Melbourne route until 2022; Etihad Airways operated from Abu Dhabi (AUH) until 2017; Malaysia Airlines briefly flew from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) in 2018; and Qatar Airways operated from Doha (DOH) until 2020. The current remaining A380 operators worldwide include Emirates, British Airways, Singapore Airlines, Qantas, Etihad Airways, Lufthansa, Asiana Airlines, Korean Air, and All Nippon Airways. Global Airlines attempted to operate the A380 on UK-US routes last year but completed only four transatlantic flights before the aircraft was placed in long-term storage in France.