Asiana to Temporarily Operate Shortest A380 Flight

The A380, the world’s largest passenger aircraft, has been gracing the skies for over a decade on longer routes around the world. It is such an enormous aircraft that it takes a long time to board and deplane it, meaning shorter routes on the type make little operational sense.

The ten airlines that do operate the type – ANA, Asiana, British Airways, Emirates, Etihad, Korean Air, Lufthansa, Qatar, Qantas, and Singapore – all use them on longer routes that span between continents. Emirates operates the vast majority of the A380 routes in the world, including the previous crown holder for the shortest A380 route.

South Korean-based Asiana Airlines has taken the crown for the shortest route served on the type, but only temporarily. The route between Seoul Incheon and Osaka, Japan spans 535 miles with the scheduled flight time being about two hours.

According to OAG schedule data and first reported by Simple Flying, the route will only be operated six times with the first occurrence happening only two weeks away on May 5, 2024, with another trip happening the next day on May 6. Then the next and final four occurrences happen four months from now in September, all within five days of each other.

But, between these dates the current crown holder of the shortest A380 route will continue to be the Emirates flight between its base in Dubai to Riyadh, which comes in at only seven miles longer than Asiana’s route, sitting at 543 miles in length.

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Joey Gerardi

Joey has always been interested in planes, for as long as he can remember. He grew up in Central New York during the early 2000s when US Airways Express turboprops ruled the skies. Being from a non-aviation family made it harder for him to be around planes and would only spend about three hours a month at the airport. He was so excited when he could drive by himself and the first thing he did with the license was get ice cream and go plane spotting for the entire day. When he has the time (and money) he likes to take spotting trips to any location worth a visit but has a special interest in Essential Air Service Airports. He got his degree in Aviation Management and Operations from WMU in June of 2022, and is currently working full time for an airline in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

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