The Airbus A380 has arrived at Casablanca Airport once more, courtesy of Emirates. The superjumbo will replace the existing daily 777 services, which took over after the pandemic decimated traffic. With passengers back in full force, the 8.5-hour route is once again being flown by the iconic A380.
First flight back
On the morning of April 15th, Emirates EK751 touched down at Casablanca’s Mohammed V International Airport (CMN) from Dubai International Airport (DXB). Instead of the usual Boeing 777-300ER, it was operated by A6-EOI, an eight-year-old A380 carrying the special “Journey to the future” livery.
The aircraft landed 13 minutes ahead of schedule at 11:42, having completed the journey in 8 hours and 38 minutes. On the ground, the A380 was greeted by a host of dignitaries, including the UAE’s Ambassador to Morocco, Morocco’s Airport Director, and Emirates’ country leadership.
As we reported in January as well, the daily EK751/752 rotation will now be flown by the Airbus A380, with the following schedule:
- EK751 – Departs DXB at 07:30 and lands in CMN at 11:55 (scheduled time of 8 hours and 25 minutes)
- EK752 – Leave CMN at 14:45 and lands in DXB at 01:15 (+1 day) (scheduled time of 7 hours and 20 minutes)
Don’t miss out!. Book tickets for this route here.
Special livery deployed
To celebrate the return of the superjumbo to Casablanca, Emirates sent one of its newest special liveries (but now its new official livery, which we will get to). This paintwork celebrates the new Museum of the Future in Dubai, a seven-floor architectural wonder that is oval in shape (torus to be precise) and pillarless. A6-EOI is one of ten planes to carry the image and text of the new museum, underscoring Emirates’ commitment to showcasing its home city and key partners.
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However, this shouldn’t be confused with Emirates’ new official livery, its first update in over 20 years. Despite employing over 50 special liveries over the years, the carrier has not changed its iconic colors displaying the UAE flag on the tail and logo in Arabic and English on the fuselage and engines.
In a surprise move a few weeks ago, the carrier showed the first aircraft rolling out in a modernized version of the iconic colors, which will soon adorn hundreds of planes in the fleet. Here’s a look at how one of its A380s, A6-EOE, went through the process.
The A380 is back in action
Exactly three years ago, it looked like the A380 was seeing its final days. Not a single one was in the skies, barring an occasional cargo service or repatriation service, and airlines were retiring the jets into long-term storage. However, Emirates remained bullish on the aircraft type, and after 36 months, this is paying off. Today, 84 of 119 in Emirates’ fleet are flying, with more coming out of storage as more markets reach their pre-COVID capacity. With 71 daily flights to 48 destinations, this summer the superjumbo will be busy from its hub in Dubai Airport.
