From Seoul and Dubai. Yesterday, and in just two flights, 1,012 passengers arrived in Barcelona on two Airbus A380s, the giant two-deck Airbus model. It was the first time in the facility’s history that this has happened simultaneously.
This exceptional and spectacular operation due to the size of the planes and all the activities that these four-engined vehicles move on the ground, is due to the increase in seats due to the celebration of the MWC or Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
In response to all travelers arriving by air, the owner and manager of the facility, Aena, has activated a special operation during the period of increased passenger influx that the celebration of the congress implies. This is running from last Friday, February 23 to Sunday, March 3.
According to Aena’s operations department, these days, the number of scheduled commercial movements (takeoffs and landings) totals 8,470. This represents an increase of 10.82% compared to the flights scheduled during last year’s edition, when there were 7,643.
Exceeding the figures from the 2023 edition was foreseeable, although this 2024 the figures from the 2019 edition will also be exceeded, with an increase of almost 3%, when 8,226 operations were registered.
The day with the most scheduled commercial flights in Barcelona will be next Friday, March 1, with 932 operations, followed by Friday, February 23, with a total of 910 flights on the runways of El Prat. However, yesterday, the 24th, an operation was recorded that goes down in the history of the airport: that of two Airbus A380s, simultaneously in T1, a building that will be 15 years old in 2024.
South Korean Asiana, which normally flies between Seoul and El Prat with Airbus A350-900, changed this Saturday to the A380-800 model, increasing capacity from the usual 311 seats to the 495 that its 380s can carry in a single trip. On the eight A380s that this South Korean airline has, 12 passengers fly in first class, 66 in business seats and 417 in the economy cabin. On yesterday’s flight all the seats were full and from the South Korean capital to the Catalan capital the device flew just over 13 hours.
For its part, the Emirates A380 that flew yesterday to Barcelona is a more frequent visitor. In fact, a few weeks ago the daily flight between Dubai and El Prat operated by this model was recovered, which had been changed to the Boeing 777-300 since the line’s recovery after the pandemic.
The one assigned yesterday to this line was the A380 registered as A6-EEB, one of the giants built in 2012 and whose current interior configuration allows it to carry more than half a thousand passengers. In this case the cabin is divided into 14 first class seats and 76 business class seats, which in addition to the lounge-bar are located on the upper deck of the aircraft.
On the lower floor, Emirates has 427 economy class seats, totaling 517 seats, which were fully occupied, both by travelers from Dubai and, above all, by travelers connecting with the Barcelona flight at the main Emirates Hub. United Arab Emirates and made the last stretch in less than seven hours.
Both devices added more than a thousand incoming travelers (exactly 1,012) on two flights, which were parked side by side at gates C78 and 79, in addition to C80 and C81, in what was the old regional aviation area of ??T1. , which was recently converted and renovated for the operation of large-capacity and long-haul aircraft, on the sea side of the terminal, next to header 06R.
The Emirates A380s will continue to be regular visitors to the Barcelona airport, although this may have been one of the last times that Asiana has flown to El Prat with its A380. In fact, it will be the last year that the company flies to the city. It does not do so due to lack of interest or demand, but because this South Korean firm will merge during 2024 with Korean Air, which also flies to Barcelona, ??which will change this route from three to two operators, since the airline low-cost and long-haul Air Premia also flies between both cities, although with fewer weekly frequencies.