One of the deciding factors on choosing which airline has the best A380 is the kind of features and amenities onboard, because the size of the A380 allows things not normally before seen on a passenger plane, such as lounge bars, shower cubicles, and gift shops!
Currently, only a dozen airlines can claim to have the A380 in their fleet, and it all began with Singapore Airlines way back in 2007, and by the end of February 2016, it is Emirates who has by far the largest fleet of A380s.
So let’s take a look at some of the features of the A380 in all 12 of the airlines who operate it (I am also in the process of adding detailed reviews for each cabin class of every airline, so check them out).
SINGAPORE AIRLINES:
Destinations: Singapore-London Heathrow (x2 daily), Singapore-Paris, Singapore-Zurich, Singapore-Frankfurt-New York JFK, Singapore-Sydney (x2 daily), Singapore-Auckland, Singapore-Mumbai, Singapore-Delhi, Singapore-Hong Kong (x2 daily), Singapore-Tokyo(x2 daily)-Los Angeles, Singapore-Beijing, Singapore-Shanghai.
Previous Destinations: Nagoya, Melbourne, San Francisco.
Singapore Airlines A380 Economy Class Review from BackpackerLee.
Singapore Airlines A380 Business Class Review from Keith Mason at Pointhacks.
Singapore Airlines A380 First Class Suites Review from ‘Lucky’ at One Mile at a Time.
EMIRATES:
Destinations: Dubai-London Heathrow (x5 daily), Dubai-London Gatwick (x2 daily), Dubai-Manchester, Dubai-Paris (x3 daily), Dubai-Amsterdam, Dubai-Rome (x2 daily), Dubai-Munich (x2 daily), Dubai-Zurich (x2 daily), Dubai-Barcelona, Dubai-Milan-New York JFK, Dubai-Frankfurt, Dubai-Dusseldorf, Dubai-Madrid, Dubai-Jeddah, Dubai-Kuwait City, Dubai-Mauritius (x2 daily), Dubai-Bangkok (x3 daily)-Hong Kong, Dubai-Singapore, Dubai-Sydney (x2 daily)-Auckland, Dubai-Melbourne-Auckland, Dubai-Brisbane-Auckland, Dubai-Perth, Dubai-Hong Kong (x4 daily), Dubai-Seoul, Dubai-Shanghai (x2 daily), Dubai-Beijing, Dubai-Toronto, Dubai-New York JFK (x2 daily), Dubai-Houston, Dubai-San Francisco, Dubai-Los Angeles, Dubai-Dallas.
Previous Destinations: Tokyo-Narita, Sao Paulo, Kuala Lumpur, Riyadh, Moscow.
Emirates A380 Economy Class Review from Seatgurus on YouTube (video).
Emirates A380 Business Class Review from The Luxury Travel Expert.
Emirates A380 First Class Suites Review from BackpackerLee.
BRITISH AIRWAYS:
Destinations (all from Heathrow): London-Hong Kong, London-Singapore, London-Johannesburg, London-Washington DC, London-Miami, London-Los Angeles (x2 daily), London-San Francisco.
British Airways A380 Economy Class Review from Dantorp Aviation on YouTube (video).
British Airways A380 Business Class (Club World) Review from The Points Guy.
British Airways A380 First Class Review from Sriram Srinivasan at upgrd.com.
MALAYSIA AIRLINES:
Destinations: Kuala Lumpur-London (x2 daily).
Previous Destinations: Hong Kong, Paris.
Malaysia Airlines A380 Economy Class Review from my-trip-report on YouTube (video).
Malaysia Airlines A380 Business Class Review from Giulia Mule at Mondomulia.
Malaysia Airlines A380 First Class Review from ‘Lucky’ at One Mile at a Time.
THAI AIRWAYS:
Destinations: Bangkok-Tokyo (x2 daily), Bangkok-Osaka, Bangkok-Hong Kong, Bangkok-London Heathrow, Bangkok-Paris, Bangkok-Frankfurt.
Previous Destinations: Singapore.
Thai Airways A380 Economy Class Review from Manureva744 on Flight-Report.com.
Thai Airways A380 Business Class (Royal Silk) Review from Air-Clips on YouTube (video).
Thai Airways A380 First Class (Royal First) Review from The Points Guy.
KOREAN AIR:
Destinations: Seoul-Los Angeles (x2 daily), Seoul-Atlanta, Seoul-New York JFK, Seoul-London Heathrow, Seoul-Paris.
Previous Destinations: Tokyo-Narita, Hong Kong.
Korean Air A380 Economy Class Review from Marathon on Flight-Report.com.
Korean Air A380 Business Class Review from Johnny Jet.
Korean Air A380 First Class Kosmo Suites Review from Kevin Hanson at upgrd.com.
QANTAS:
Destinations: Melbourne-Los Angeles, Melbourne-Dubai-London, Sydney-Los Angeles, Sydney-Dubai-London, Sydney-Dallas
Previous Destinations: Singapore, Hong Kong.
Qantas A380 Economy Class Review from ‘Alex’ at Points, Miles, and Martinis.
Qantas A380 Business Class Review from Scott Grimmer at MileValue.
Qantas A380 First Class Review from ‘Lucky’ at One Mile at a Time.
CHINA SOUTHERN:
Destinations: Beijing-Guangzhou (x2 daily), Beijing-Amsterdam, Guangzhou-Los Angeles.
Previous Destinations: Shenzhen, Shanghai, Chengdu, Sydney.
China Southern A380 Economy Class Review from Student Travels on YouTube (video).
China Southern A380 Business Class Review from ‘Rocky’ at upgrd.com.
China Southern A380 First Class Review from ‘Lucky’ at One Mile at a Time.
LUFTHANSA:
Destinations: Frankfurt-Beijing, Frankfurt-Shanghai, Frankfurt-Hong Kong, Frankfurt-Seoul, Frankfurt-Singapore, Frankfurt-Delhi, Frankfurt-Johannesburg, Frankfurt-Houston, Frankfurt-New York JFK, Frankfurt-Los Angeles, Frankfurt-San Francisco, Frankfurt-Miami.
Previous Destinations: Tokyo-Narita.
Lufthansa A380 Economy Class Review from The Points Guy.
Lufthansa A380 Business Class Review from Moritz at Travelux.
Lufthansa A380 First Class Review from The Points Guy (again!).
AIR FRANCE:
Destinations: Paris-Tokyo Narita, Paris-Shanghai, Paris-Hong Kong, Paris-Johannesburg, Paris-Washington DC (x2 daily), Paris-Miami, Paris-San Francisco, Paris-Los Angeles, Paris-New York JFK.
Previous Destinations: Abidjan, Cancun
Air France A380 Economy Class Review from Swayne Martin.
Air France A380 Business Class Review from Christina at My View from the Middle Seat.
Air France A380 First Class Review from Anthonytahiti at Flight-Report.com.
ASIANA:
Destinations: Seoul-Los Angeles, Seoul-New York JFK.
Previous Destinations: Hong Kong, Tokyo-Narita, Osaka, Bangkok
Asiana A380 Economy Class Review from ‘Tak’ at Triphash.
Asiana A380 Business Class Review from Adrian Fong on Flight-Report.com.
Asiana A380 First Class Suites Review from Bengali Miles Guru.
QATAR AIRWAYS:
Destinations: Doha-London Heathrow (x2 daily), Doha-Paris, Doha-Bangkok (x3 daily)-Hong Kong.
Previous Destinations: n/a
How can you travel in such luxury on Qatar Airways A380? Well, check out this first class trip report from Svenblogt, who recently took the inaugural flight from Doha to London!
Qatar Airways A380 Economy Class Review from Joe Pesek at AirlineGeeks.
Qatar Airways A380 Business Class Review from Miles Down Under.
Qatar Airways A380 First Class Suites Review from Sam Chui.
ETIHAD:
Destinations: Abu Dhabi-London Heathrow (x3 daily), Abu Dhabi-New York JFK, Abu Dhabi-Sydney.
Previous Destinations: n/a
Etihad A380 Economy Class Review from Natasha at Eat, Sleep, Shoot, Travel, Blog.
Etihad A380 Business Class Review from Jonny Clark at Thedesignair.net.
Etihad A380 First Class Apartment Review from Sam Chui.
So, that concludes my look at the A380 carriers thus far, and please remember to check back to this post soon for updated opinions on the members of the elite A380 club!
Page last updated February 24, 2016. Please report any dead links.
backpackerlee 
Really interesting article, Lee. Thank you for including mine too 🙂
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Not a problem, I enjoyed reading your article, and it was very informative and is the perfect companion piece.
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Very nice to have all this info compiled in one spot. I will be on several long-haul flights to Asia this summer, and I hope to experience the A380.
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If you can you should plan your flights so that you are scheduled to fly on the A380. Are you getting to Asia from Europe or from the US? Transpacific, well Korean Air are the best bet!
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I’m going transpacific. I’d like to go via Europe, but I’m not made of money. I’d like very much to experience the Celestial Bar on KE. Lol
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The Celestial Bar is amazing, but its only for business and first class passengers…so if you’re flying economy you won’t get the chance to use it/
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I know. Here’s hoping for business class! 🙂
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I wouldn’t call the Celestial Bar amazing compared to the Emirates or Qatar bars.
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Interesting comment Stephen. I think Qatar’s bar is impressive, but EK’s not so much. I like the refined colours of the Celestial Bar on KE.
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China Southern all the way.
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Nice article. I try to schedule all my flights on A30s where I can. Have a soft spot for SQ and Emirates. AF, not one of my favourites.
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I think Air France can be very inconsistent. But I agree that Singapore Airlines can be among the best!
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great report Lee. I’ve travelled on the Emirates A380 HKG-LHR, and BKK-Dubai a few times, all in Economy class. I really like being able to sit right at the front of the plane in economy on the A380. The planes seem much quieter and smoother than older planes.
You’ve flown first class on the A380 ? what sort of a backpacker are you ? 🙂
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I like Emirates too, they are very professional and probably have the best IFE system. They have so many A380s now its unbelievable! And yep, I’ve flown Emirates and Singapore Airlines first class suites, aboard the A380 – lets just say I treated myself twice, but the rest of the time I am very much stuck in the cheap seats haha 😀
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Hey Lee, great article! I notice the reviews cover First Class but how about Business Class? I have to go from Singapore to London and I can book Business either via Emirates (via Dubai) or SQ (direct), which would you recommend as better in terms of just the service comparison? Just wondering 🙂
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I haven’t flown Business Class too often, so I am not the expert, but I think for your route I would always choose SQ from SIN-LHR, but make sure you choose the SQ308 flight rather than SQ322 – both are A380s, but SQ322 is a 14hr redeye, as the flight follows the night time back through the timezones all the way to LHR. Service wise, SQ business class is more prestigious than EK, plus you wont have to stopover at DXB.
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I am pleased to notice that I am not the only one obsessed with A380 🙂 I have a blog post coming up on the subject.
I have flown A380 with Emirates (Paris-Dubai) and with AF (Paris-NYC), and unfortunately one cannot compare these two… It didn’t feel anything special with AF and there was less space.
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Air France get very mixed reviews, but the Emirates A380 is among the very best in the sky. I will look forward to your blog about the A380! 😀
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We chose that specific flight bc wanted to test A380 with AF (and compare to Emirates), and paid quite a few extra hundreds of € more for that -so not worth it 😦
Have you flown A380 with AF?
I am usually very happy with AF. They often offer free champagne and once we were even offered an entire bottle 🙂
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Hello Lee, this is a fantastic post! I experienced the A380 in June 2015. I took Malaysia Airlines from KUL-LHR. I enjoyed the ride. It was very smooth, quieter and better handling of cabin pressure. I experienced both deck, the lower and upper deck. Hope to try out the business class one day on a long haul flight.
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