British Airways flies to Frankfurt with the Airbus A380
On February 12 and 14, travelers at Frankfurt Airport were able to observe several Airbus A380s every day. So not only Emirates flew to Frankfurt Airport with the double-decker, but also British Airways.
The Airbus A380 has been in service again for British Airways since November. Before the double-decker flies again on long-haul routes, the airline uses the aircraft giant on the routes between London Heathrow and Frankfurt as well as Madrid Barajas. Since the A380 has returned to long-haul routes, the short-haul A380 has been eliminated. For a few days, however, British Airways has been flying again with the Airbus A380 or the Boeing 787-9 from London to Frankfurt, as the Reisetopia editorial team working with Alex and Tobi found out.
Long-haul aircraft between London and Frankfurt
Emirates flies daily from Dubai to Frankfurt with the Airbus A380. This makes Emirates the only airline that flies to Frankfurt Airport with a double-decker. Last year, at least British Airways flew to Frankfurt six days a week with the Airbus A380 – for training purposes. Before the double-decker was to be used again on long-haul routes, British Airways used the four-jet aircraft on short-haul routes in order to get both the pilots and the cabin crew used to the aircraft, which in the end was only treated on the ground. After around a month on short-haul routes, British Airways is once again using the A380 daily on long-haul routes, such as to Dubai or Miami.
In the past few days, however, we have noticed unusual flight movements between London Heathrow and Frankfurt. A Boeing 787-9 was used on the actual BA904 passenger flight on February 11. An Airbus A380 is also regularly used on this flight, such as on February 10 and 12.
On February 14, the Airbus A380 was used again on flight BA910. As Reisetopia has learned from a reliable source, these flights are purely training flights – for training and education purposes for the pilots and cabin crew.
The aim of these training flights is to ensure that the pilots and cabin crew receive their licences. In addition, the demand for freight on the London-Frankfurt route is significantly higher than on routes such as London-Hamburg, so it may be worth using the A380 for British Airways to fly freight between London and Frankfurt.
Conclusion on the use of long-haul aircraft at British Airways
British Airways uses the Airbus A380 on the route to Frankfurt for training and education purposes. These flights serve, among other things, to obtain the license of the pilots and the cabin crew. Of particular note is the fact that British Airways also carries cargo on these flights, so these flights are likely to be profitable.