British Airways has added double-daily Airbus A380 flights to Dubai. Don't get too excited: it will only be at that level between October 29th and November 13th, based on when it leaves London Heathrow. It will be the first time BA, which first deployed the double-decker to the UAE in April 2019, has had this many services by it. It has temporarily removed the A380 from Chicago O'Hare to accommodate it.

October 29th-November 13th

When all equipment is considered, BA has triple daily Dubai flights this winter, up from 19 weekly currently. It had planned a daily A380 service this winter, up from three weekly in the summer. Winter is the peak travel period.

The carrier's latest schedule update to OAG and Cirium shows that two flights will now see the quadjet. The type has 469 seats: 14 in first, 97 in business, 55 in premium economy, and 303 in economy. It temporarily replaces the previously planned 787-9/787-10, providing up to 253 additional seats per departure.

Available to book, the schedule is as follows, with all times local. The additional A380 is on the 20:40 departure from the UK, the last of which leaves on November 13th. Returning, it is on the 10:00 from Dubai, with the last on November 14th.

• Heathrow to Dubai: 12:50-23:55 (A380); 20:40-07:45+1 (A380); 21:35-08:30+1 (787-10)
• Dubai to Heathrow: 02:10-06:15 (A380); 10:00-14:10 (A380); 13:35-17:25 (787-10)

Heathrow-Dubai A380 flights

As you know, Heathrow-Dubai is the world's number one airport pair for A380 flights. Between October 29th and November 13th, BA and Emirates will have eight daily departures by the type. The next most served has three daily.

Analysis of schedules using Cirium indicates eight daily services is the joint highest to date. It last had that many on a regular basis in March 2018, when Emirates and Qantas both deployed the double-decker. Qantas has, of course, since returned to flying from Sydney to Heathrow via Singapore.

A380 snapshot: November 1st

Examining the Heathrow-Dubai A380 schedule for November 1st, a few days after airlines in the Northern Hemisphere switch to winter schedules, shows that these are all planned:

09:10: Emirates
12:50: BA
13:40: Emirates
15:50: BA
19:00: Emirates
20:20: Emirates
20:40: BA ← new A380
22:00: Emirates

11 daily when Abu Dhabi added

Etihad resumes using the A380 between Abu Dhabi and Heathrow on July 25th – the day after this article is written. It will initially be daily and quickly rise to 13 weekly, growing to triple daily from November 1st.

Adding Etihad's A380 schedule to Dubai's shows that all of these will leave Heathrow on that day example November day. Notice the three departing within 35 minutes between 20:20 and 20:55, arriving in the UAE in the early morning:

09:00: Etihad
09:10: Emirates
12:50: BA
13:40: Emirates
13:55: Etihad
15:50: BA
19:00: Emirates
20:20: Emirates
20:40: BA ← new A380
20:55: Etihad
22:00: Emirates

While it will only be temporarily 11 daily, it will, for that short time, return to having the joint highest number of A380 flights Heathrow-UAE has had. Thereafter, it will drop to 10 daily.