Airbus A380 experience

Don't know about economy class but biz was amazing. Flew to NZ from Dubai on one and landing I felt like I was ready to go straight away after a 17hour flight. They'll not be around for a lot longer so maybe do it just for the experience before they're all gone!

As above. I flew from Heathrow to Sydney with Qantas about ten years ago, economy on the A380 going out and business on an Emirates A380 coming home.

Economy on the Qantas flight was excellent, very quiet flight and the seat was very comfortable if a little on the firm side. Well worth paying a bit extra for the pleasure.

My return flight was on the Emirates A380 (upper deck) and it was a whole new experience for me, not being used to travelling in such opulence!

I arrived in Heathrow very relaxed and refreshed. (I wasn't paying for the return flight by the way!)

A380 is very quiet and very smooth in turbulence.

I found the transfer experience a bit messy to be honest, with more security checks than I thought were necessary, but it all went smoothly enough. On the way back our landing in Sydney was delayed because of lightning storms (!) and took off late too so missed our onward connection to Dublin but it was all handled perfectly by the flight attendants and ground staff. The airport itself was OK, lots of flashy duty free shops that aren't necessarily that cheap, so be careful and don't get carried away.

A380 definitely worth it. Amazingly quiet and comfortable. you almost feel like you're in a room not on a plane. HAven't done Dubai transfer recently but used Doha just pre covid and it was fine. Rather cavernous, with a lot of walking but easy to navigate.

Some of the Qatar 777 are 10 abreast and can be quite squeezed.

I found Economy on the A380 to be more like premium economy on other carriers, the seat is much bigger and more comfortable. On that 14 odd hour leg you will really appreciate it so if its a small difference in price I'd go for that. I find DXB fine for connecting too, one of the better mega airports for that in my experience.

The 777 economy seat is fine in of itself space wise but the armrests are tiny and you share it with whoever is beside you, so whoever falls asleep on it first keeps it! The aisles are also very small.

If you are flying J then upstairs on the 380 is class, there's a bar at the back with seating.

I did read ages ago that EK were going 11 abreast downstairs on the A380 in economy though, not sure if that happened in the end. If you are booking economy, try and get the economy section at the front of the upper deck, that's 8 across like an A330 but the seats are bigger.

Done a bit of long haul on A380 over the years, all in economy! But the thing that I loved and nobody talked about was the feeling of space downstairs on the A380 since there is no real curvature at that point in the side of the fuselage. The headspace in the window seat is noticeably more than in a single decker aircraft.

80A and 80K are great seats on Qantas - think Emirates have equivalent window seats with no seat in front in their layout IIRC.

I'd always take a window seat on long haul. I like the little bit of extra privacy plus the view out if it's daytime.

People differ I suppose. Others might have different preferences.

You should probably be able to get the A380 with Qatar too. I did Dublin-Doha-Sydney in the last few weeks and had the A380 both ways on the Doha-Sydney leg.

I've flown on many, mostly in premium economy, or economy and honestly its no different than any other aircraft.

I flew from Sydney to Shanghai, across the famous turbulent air of Indonesia and it was just as bumpy in spells as a on a twinjet.

Yes the economy legroom is generally a tad better, but the seats are no wider and yes the bathrooms are more plentiful, but no bigger.

Really a passenger experience comes down to how the airline specs their aircraft and how that translates to comfort rather than the size of the plane. And the food and beverages of course.

I've flown Paris to Singapore a good few times on both Air France/KLM and Singapore Airlines, both using triples, and I'd choose SA every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

So no, if it means costing you more money just to travel on an A380, don't bother your barny. In fact, the sheer length of time it takes to embark and disembark 400-500 passengers on the things, even with twin jetways, is reason enough to choose literally any other option.

I can't speak for all airlines, but for EK at least the A380 seats are noticeably wider than those on their other long haul aircraft, not least the 777s.

I'm happy to accept any glass of champagne I'm offered :)

Two thirds of my A380 flights were in economy.

And the prize for pretentious post of the month goes to.....

The A380 economy seat is an inch wider than all the other aircraft you are looking at.

The VC-10 was better: quieter, faster more seat room, but it's really hard to find a seat on one these days.

You didn't check out those seats obviously! Yes they are window seats, but because of emergency slide attached to door in emergency exit row in front there is NO seat in front of you, which actually means you can stand up and scooch forward to get out of your seat without asking anyone else to move.

Here's a pic I found online:

Wowza. When I flew (pre covid) it was a standard seat.

Flew Emirates, Qatar and Lufthansa A380's. Emirates A380's are probably the most comfortable economy class seats I have flown in long haul. A380 is surprisingly a very quiet aircraft. Lufthansa was at the back of the upper deck where there's a small economy class section. This was actually pretty cosy with the small cabin and the seats were pretty good too though IFE has nothing on EK's IFE offer.. Qatar A380 was alright though I do prefer Doha for transiting over DXB, but would still put up transiting through DXB flying EK double deckers.

We are hoping to bring the kids in 2 years out to Vietnam/Laos/Thailand etc and I'd love to get on the A380 at least once before they're grounded.

Is there a way of using skyscanner to find out what carriers/routes fly A380s? We'd be happy landing in Bangkok, KL, Vietnam (any) or Singapore if it meant getting to fly on one.