Emirates (EK/UAE) have returned their oldest Airbus A380-861 to passenger service after 5 years of inactivity.
A6-EDF is the oldest Airbus A380 in the Emirates fleet. The aircraft was built as MSN007 in February 2006. Emirates is the largest global operator of the A380 and has a total of 121 of the type.
The aircraft has primarily been stored at Dubai World Central International Airport (DWC) since 2020, however the aircraft was ferried from DWC to Dubai International Airport (DXB) on a 21-minute ferry flight on December 30, 2023.
Prior to re-entering passenger service, the aircraft completed a test flight lasting 3 hours and 30 minutes on March 29, 2025. The aircraft’s first revenue flight on return to service was flight EK925 from Dubai (DXB) to Cairo (CAI). A6-EDF has since gone on to operate more flights to destinations including Jeddah (JED) and Zurich (ZRH).
Tracking the Emirates A380 fleet
There are multiple ways to track the Emirates A380 fleet on Flightradar24.com and in our mobile apps. On the web, visit our Emirates data page for a full list of their A380 fleet and to see which aircraft are currently active. To see Emirates A380s on the map on the web or in our apps, use callsign filter ‘UAE’ and aircraft filter ‘A38’.
The development of the Airbus A380 began in the late 1990s, with the formal launch of the program announced in December 2000. The concept of the A380 was to create a large, long-range aircraft that could carry a large number of passengers and reduce congestion at major airports. The A380 made its first flight on April 27, 2005, and was introduced into commercial service in October 2007 with Singapore Airlines. Over the next few years, the A380 was embraced by a number of airlines and became a popular choice for long-haul flights.
Cover photo: Yukiros_31, JetPhotos.
The post Emirates reactivates its oldest Airbus A380 appeared first on Flightradar24 Blog.
