Don’t Get Comfortable: The World’s Shortest Airbus A380 Routes

First used commercially in October 2007, the A380 has operated multiple short routes in the past 14 years. Always bookable, they’ve been for crew training and familiarization, as well as normal service.

Singapore Airlines wins the award for the shortest A380 route with 20+ outbound flights. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying.

The top-10 shortest A380 routes

Singapore to Kuala Lumpur was the shortest A380 route with at least 20 departures, based on analyzing Cirum data for all routes over the past 14 years. Operated by Singapore Airlines, the type was deployed to the capital of Malaysia – often with a flight time of about 40 minutes – from November 4th onwards for crew training and refamiliarization.

1. Singapore Airlines: Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, 184 miles (296km)
2. Air France: Paris CDG to London Heathrow, 216 miles (348km)
3. Emirates: Dubai to Muscat, 217 miles (349km)
4. Emirates: Dubai to Doha, 235 miles (378km)
5. Emirates: Dubai to Bahrain, 303 miles (488km)
6. British Airways: London Heathrow to Frankfurt, 408 miles (657km)
7. Emirates: Dubai to Kuwait, 530 miles (853km)
8. Asiana: Seoul Incheon to Osaka Kansai, 535 miles (862km)
9. Emirates: Dubai to Riyadh, 543 miles (874km)
10. China Southern: Beijing Capital to Shanghai Pudong, 681 miles (1,096km)

Air France took delivery of its first A380 on October 30th, 2009, and it entered service on November 23rd. Between June and August 2010, the carrier deployed the 538-seat type to Heathrow on 40 occasions, again for crew training as more aircraft were delivered. The author flew it and was upgraded from economy to first. What an experience, even on a 35-minute flight.

Air France used A380 to Heathrow. It left CDG at 10:05 and arrived at 10:25. Returning, it departed at 12:50 and arrived home at 15:05. Photo: Ryanair01 via Imgur.

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Emirates’ short A380 routes

As you might imagine, Emirates has regularly used the A380 on short routes. Indeed, if all the flights on the above routes are combined, the carrier has operated nine in ten services, according to Cirium.

The 530-mile (853km) link between Dubai to Kuwait has had more A380 flights than any other short service. It is route responsible for nearly six in ten flights on the top-10 shortest routes. Following a one-off round-trip in February 2011 to celebrate Kuwait’s 50th National Day, Emirates introduced it on a regular scheduled basis from July 2014. It operated once-daily until September 2018.

Emirates used the A380 to/from Kuwait. It was used on EK857 and EK858. In the last month of use, it departed Dubai at 14:55 and arrived at 15:45 local time. Returning, it left at 17:40 and arrived back at 20:25. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying.

Dubai to Muscat

While Dubai to Kuwait had the most flights, the even shorter sector to Muscat, the capital of Oman – just 217 miles (349km) away – stands out for a different reason: it had two daily flights. First used on a one-off basis on July 1st, 2018, to celebrate 25 years of Emirates serving Oman (see the pattern?), the A380 entered normal commercial service precisely one year later.

It was deployed on EK682 and EK864, leaving Dubai at 08:25 and 16:10 and arriving at 09:35 and 17:25. Returning, it was used on EK683 and EK685, operating 11:15-12:25 and 19:05-20:15. Because of the pandemic, the double-decker ceased serving Muscat in late February 2020. Will it ever return?

What is the shortest A380 route you’ve flown? Let us know in the comments.

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