A380 twice a day to JFK

[GoreTex]

from 1st of Jan 2013 EK will send the A380 to JFK, it will do the EK203.

[The Turtle]

welcome news to any US or CA commuter!

[vfenext]

Not so welcome for the cripple seven guys. Giving way to a superior product!

[Craggenmore]

Will the layover time reduce..?

[falconeasydriver]

As long as it helps contribute to an improved profit next year, I'm glad its going to JFK.
Apart from the shower and bar :E I don't actually feel the premium cabin in the 380 is any better or worse than the 777, its steerage where it scores big points with pax.
I wonder where EK are gonna put the JFK freight? or has the whale had a MTOW increase?

[HamFan]

As long as it helps contribute to an improved profit next year........

Was it difficult to keep a straight face when you wrote that???

They'll run it until icing season cuts in then switch to something reliable.

[Rim-job]

That's odd "Ham".... because last time i checked Jan 1st (the date the A380 takes over 203) is in the middle of icing season.

You really are a tosser and once again fail to have you facts straight. :=

Probably better to just zip it as everything you say makes absolutely no sense.

[a747jb]

Oh thank god! I can speak only for myself, but it has been a real pain in the butt to get a seat in any class to JFK over the past year on either flight, let alone in a premium class. I'm not here to say which is a more or less profitable airplane, but 1 fact is is that the 380 has 95 more y class, 34 more J class, and 6 more F class seats. This route very much so needs this extra capacity!

[donpizmeov]

Falcon,
Don't BA and VA call the 2 3 2 cabin fit premium economy! 3 people from every row need to climb over someone to get in and out of their seat in the Boeing. That's half your J class pax. Not very industry standard premium class is it? 1 2 1 in the Dugong. So there is a difference.
Can you let us know why freight is a problem for the 380 on this flight? Any facts to help us understand where you see the problem to be?

The don

[nolimitholdem]

I don't think any "cripple 7" (please refer to vfenext's post if you want the true definition of "tosser", rim-job) pilots will mourn the loss of 203 one bit. Not judging from the number of swap requests to drop the flight. Perhaps that could be because two 14 hour flights separated by a layover that is about 21 hours chocks-in-to-out, with a 12am pickup in DXB and a early morning pickup in JFK, isn't quite the windfall you might think. lol The only thing that surprises me is that the FAA even allows it.

As far as better cabin services, give it a rest. The same crap EK food, and J class in the B777 is way better - at least you don't have to squeeze your feet into a shoebox or sit with your head next to the noisy bar when you're trying to sleep in the back rows. F is the same suites, with...WOO HOO! a shower. Same surly, ill-trained cabin crew.

About the only thing better would be a few more seats to get out of dodge. But that's it. If you really need to get to/from JFK take Emptihad from AUH. The ticket is cheaper, the crew is nicer, and when you come back the taxis are cheaper from SZR than from Terminal 3.

A380....*yawn*....

[falconeasydriver]

Don, I'm just reiterating what an A380 skipper said to me last time I dead-headed to SYD, he explained that with 12 hours of gas or so, and a fullish load of pax and bags, there isnt a lot of freight capacity left.
Other than that, I haven't got a scooby doo.

[glofish]

Not being a fan of the dugong I have however always said that it will be the right equipment on certain busy routes and airports. JFK is certainly one of such, just as is LHR.

So in my opinion it's a good choice.

As to comfort .... did a SYD in F (DH) and was neither impressed nor had I anything to complain. The difference that wold make me chose a T7 anytime is the check-in and boarding hassles. It takes ages to go through security anyway, so just ask the JFK 380 passengers how long before boarding they had to queue with 500 fellow pax to pass the TSA morons and how long they then had to wait in the too small wing .... without enough seats to pass the time!

But, again, fine for us all to get to JFK with some seats more!

[givemewings]

True, but that's the fault of the airport, not the plane itself. In places where it's been adequately provided for, boarding process is very smooth.

To be honest I've found TSA far better than I had expected, reading on here. They've always been very efficient with us when I've gone through there. I suppose it might be different for the pax, but then again not a lot of them are exactly helping themselves the way a percentage of them carry on at screening. The screening area also is not very well designed, nor is the area big enough for the traffic.

It is 6 months away, perhaps by then they will have sorted something, isn't JFK undergoing some kind of refurbishment?