Emirates" Airbus A380 Will Perform With The Red Arrows

The giant Airbus A380 will fly alongside six Red Arrows aircraft.

Emirates has revealed that one of its Airbus A380s will conduct a flypast of Dubai alongside the Red Arrows. The giant of the skies will be flying alongside the UK's Air Force display team to celebrate the start of the DP World Tour Championship. The flypast should occur between 12:00 and 13:00 on Thursday, with the public encouraged to go out and watch.

There doesn't seem to be much in common between an Airbus A380 and BAE Systems Hawk T1. However, Emirates and the Red Arrows do have one thing in common - both like to put on a good show.

Read more: China Southern Will Operate Its Last Airbus A380 Flight On Sunday

What's planned?

Emirates today revealed that one of its Airbus A380s would be completing a flypast of the iconic Dubai skyline. The flypast will start at the Jumeirah Golf Estates, where the four-day DP World Tour Golf Championship will take place. It will then fly up Dubai, alongside the famous skyline of Sheik Zayed Road, with the formation flying past the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. The Red Arrows are currently undertaking a five-week tour to the Gulf Region that also saw a flypast in Doha and displays at the Bahrain Air Show.

Six Red Arrows will fly in formation with the Airbus A380 during the stunt, which should take place between 12:00 and 13:00 local time. The airline encourages the public to step outside and watch the flypast. However, the airline did issue a warning that people should not put the flight at risk by flying drones near the formation flight, adding that individuals must "comply with all GCAA guidelines pertaining to 'no-fly zones' for unmanned aircraft/drones."

No stranger to stunts and flypasts

While many airlines wouldn't dream of such a stunt, Emirates is no stranger to formation flights and flypasts. Last year the airline flew one of its Airbus A380s around the Burj Khalifa for an Expo 2020 TV advert. A year ago, the airline also flew an Airbus A380 and a Boeing 777 in formation with flydubai, Air Arabia, Etihad, and Al Fursan (the UAE equivalent of the Red Arrows) to open the 2021 Dubai Air Show. Other Emirates stunts have seen similar formation flights with other UAE airlines and even a formation flight with a couple of aviators wearing jetpacks.

Such stunts aren't just completed on the fly and typically require intense preparation beforehand. This has required multiple stakeholders, including the UAE's aviation regulator. The Airbus A380 pilots will have already flown the formation flight in the simulator.

Emirates' Airbus A380 situation

Emirates continues to be known as the biggest Airbus A380 operator, with the giant of the skies being its flagship aircraft. It's unclear which aircraft will be used for Thursday's flypast, and with so many Airbus A380s in the fleet, it's impossible to guess which one might be used. We can assume, though, that we should expect many more such flights over the coming years.