The Airbus A380 is the largest commercial airliner in the world. It has two full-length decks for seating, and has earned the name the “King of the Skies”. It is a plane designed for flying long routes with a high passenger volume. Airlines like to operate these aircraft between major global cities and hubs, such as Dubai International Airport, which has the largest A380 presence among global airports.

While some airlines have already retired their A380 fleet, others remain confident in the aircraft, even in 2025. Notably, British Airways and Singapore Airlines are two of the most prominent operators of the double-decker jumbo jet. This article will compare how each uses the A380 in its fleet, including where and how often it’s flown. Ultimately, it will be determined which of these two airlines operates the most A380 flights in 2025.

British Airways Fleet Overview

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British Airways (BA) operates a diverse fleet of aircraft, including aircraft from Airbus, Boeing, and Brazilian manufacturer Embraer. There are four single-aisle planes — the Embraer 190, Airbus A319, A320, and A321 — while the wide-body aircraft fleet is made up of the A350, A380, 777, and 787. As per Planespotters.net data, the fleet consists of over 290 aircraft, making BA one of the largest airlines in the world, operating out of its base at London Heathrow Airport.

Focusing on the A380, BA currently has 12 airframes — each one is configured for a four-class cabin configuration: economy, premium economy, business, and first. BA has special names for these classes — business class is called Club World, and premium economy and economy are called World Traveler Plus and World Traveler, respectively. The total seat count on the British Airways A380 is 469.

The airline’s mission for the A380 remains straightforward, focusing on high-capacity long-haul routes from its London base. With slots being competitive, it makes sense for the A380 to be deployed on high-demand routes to maximize revenue. Furthermore, last year BA announced a new first class suite that will be retrofitted onto its fleet of A380s. This reinforces the airline’s bullish stance on the A380 as a viable aircraft option for the foreseeable future, despite other airlines looking for smaller, more efficient long-haul aircraft.

British Airways A380 Usage

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As of November 2025, British Airways operates the A380 to nine different destinations across North America, Africa, and Asia, all from the London Heathrow base. The full breakdown of how British Airways uses the A380 can be found in the table below, with data provided by Cirium. The two most frequent routes in 2025 are Heathrow to Johannesburg and Heathrow to Miami.

Source: Cirium

There are a few interesting observations from this data. Most notably, British Airways does not operate the A380 to New York JFK Airport. Despite JFK being an A380-capable airport, there are a few reasons why British Airways does not send its A380 there. First, the typical passenger traveling between these two massive airports is doing so for business. This means they often prefer flexible options when booking. So, rather than fly one or two flights a day with the A380, British Airways flies nine total daily flights on smaller aircraft such as the Boeing 777.

Another reason why JFK is not served by the British Airways A380 is thanks to a joint venture with American Airlines. Adding an A380 route with over 400 seats could disrupt the balance between operations the two airlines currently hold at JFK. As for the other routes, there is a heavy focus on US routes. In total, six of the nine A380 routes serve US airports. This shows strong demand in the US-London commercial market.

Why Is British Airways Refitting Its Airbus A380 Cabins?

Singapore Airlines Fleet Overview

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Singapore Airlines (SIA) operates a fleet focused on long-haul service. They fly five total aircraft, and four of which are wide-body aircraft. The aircraft in the SIA fleet are: the A350-900, A380-800, 777-300ER, 787-10, and 737-8. SIA has a commercial fleet of over 140 aircraft operating out of the airline’s base at Singapore Changi Airport.

Even though the total aircraft count is smaller than other global airlines, the SIA fleet is significant. Singapore Airlines is the largest operator of the A350-900. And at the current moment, it is the only operator of the A350-900ULR, although more airlines are anticipated to begin operation soon. Furthermore, the airline operates a fleet of 12 cargo aircraft under the Singapore Airlines Cargo name. This fleet consists of seven 747-400F and five 777F aircraft, with deliveries of the new A350F expected in 2027.

Now to the A380, Singapore Airlines was the launch customer of the A380 when it first debuted in October 2007. Today, the airline is still committed to the jumbo jet and has 12 in its fleet. Similar to British Airways, Singapore Airlines only operates the A380 out of its base in Singapore. Passengers on the SIA A380 can expect a world-class experience too. In the recent Skytrax World Airline Awards for 2025, Singapore Airlines took home a lot of hardware. Notable wins were best first class airline, the best first class seat, and best inflight catering. A Singapore Airlines A380 is one of the most luxurious ways to fly commercially today.

Singapore Airlines A380 Usage

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As of November 2025, Singapore Airlines operates the A380 to eight different destinations across Australia, Asia, and Europe. The full breakdown of how Singapore Airlines uses the A380 can be found in the table below, with data provided by Cirium. The two most frequent routes in 2025 are between Singapore and Sydney and Singapore and London.

Source: Cirium

Looking at SIA’s A380 usage, there is a clear emphasis on Asian routes. Five of the eight total A380 routes serve Asian airports, and there are none to any airport in the Americas. Although SIA does adjust operations seasonally, like many other airlines. The airline will reintroduce a daily A380 flight to Auckland from Singapore beginning on January 18, 2026, until March 28, 2026. The A380 will replace the 777, which currently flies the route, until seasonal service ends.

Singapore Airlines used to offer A380 service to JFK from Singapore via Frankfurt, but that ended in 2023. Demand for the route was not high enough to justify the high-capacity A380. Instead, Singapore Airlines flies the A350-900ULR direct from Singapore to JFK and Newark Liberty International Airport. These flights, SQ 23 and SQ 21, respectively, are the longest commercial flights in the world today. Totaling nearly 19 hours of flight time, Singapore Airlines is able to offer direct service from its home base to New York thanks to the ultra-long-range capabilities of the A350-900ULR. These routes are both over 15,340 km and are only separated by five km of distance. The lower capacity of the A350 lowers the required demand needed to make the route economically practical. Airlines have to be certain they can fill an A380 in order for operating it to make sense from a business standpoint.

Why The World’s Longest Flight Does Not Have First Class

The Winner Is…

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Now looking at both airlines’ A380 operations, the edge goes to British Airways. They offer A380 services to nine different destinations in 2025 and a total of 5,394 flights. On the other hand, Singapore Airlines offers service to eight different destinations from its home base in 2025, totaling 4,969 flights for the year. However, it is worth noting that the addition of the Singapore-Auckland A380 service in early 2026 will make the two airlines much more comparable.

It is possible to compare the two airlines’ A380 operations even further by looking at the totals across the board, shown in the table below. The two airlines do indeed have very similar A380 operations in 2025, especially when considering they each have 12 A380 aircraft in their fleet. But British Airways has slightly more volume across the board for the year.

Source: Cirium

In short, British Airways operates more A380 flights in 2025 compared to Singapore Airlines, but it is a close comparison. Both airlines rely on an A380 network based out of one central hub airport. Together, they serve nearly every continent with the jumbo jet, and are two of the most supportive operators of the Airbus A380.