Quadjet widebody aircraft are becoming increasingly rare in passenger operations as airlines prefer much more fuel-efficient twinjets. Nonetheless, a range of airlines still use them.

11,700 flights in September

Using Cirium to examine the latest schedule for passenger Airbus A340, A380, Boeing 747, and Ilyushin 96 operations reveals quadjets will have ~11,700 flights in September.

Photo: Markus Mainka I Shutterstock.

As you would expect, that has fallen massively in recent years. Flights by such equipment have reduced by 44% versus September 2019 (the pandemic had an enormous impact) and are down by nearly two-thirds versus a decade ago.

98 airports will see them

According to Cirium, 98 airports will have scheduled flights by four-engined twin-aisle aircraft in September. This includes places that have just one departure planned, such as Geneva. On September 30th, SWISS will use the A340-300 on its 10:00 service to Zurich.

Photo: Vincenzo Pace I Simple Flying.

While Tokyo Haneda ranks first for all widebody flights because of how many domestic flights it has, it is not top for quadjet services. Dubai is, obviously almost entirely because of Emirates' vast fleet of A380s. In September, Dubai will also have Kam Air and Mahan Air's A340-300s and British Airways' A380s.

Despite British Airways retiring the 747-400 during the pandemic, London Heathrow ranks third globally, the same position it held in September 2019. However, quadjet passenger flights have fallen by 60% since then, from an average of 53 daily to 21. Now only the A380 is used with British Airways, Emirates, Etihad, Qantas, Qatar Airways, and Singapore Airlines.

Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying.

These airports have the biggest share

Relating quadjet widebody flights to total services shows that Kabul has Asia's greatest proportion of flights (21.3%). Helped by the Afghan capital's lack of activity, Kam Air will use its A340-300s to Dubai, Istanbul, and Jeddah in September, with the occasional service stopping en route in Kandahar or Mazar-I-Sharif.

In South America, Paramaribo is first (15.9%) because of Surinam Airways' A340-300 service to Amsterdam and, like Kabul, a lack of other scheduled movements.

Dubai is first in the Middle East (13.1%), Mauritius is in Africa (8.7%), and Frankfurt leads in Europe (5.8%). These operate from the German airport this summer month: Lufthansa (A340-300, A340-600, 747-400, 747-8), Air China (747-8), and Emirates (A380).

Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying.

In Oceania, Sydney is top (2.1%), while Washington Dulles is in North America (1.6%). While Dulles does not have the highest volume of quadjet departures (JFK does), it has the greatest proportion of them, helped by having far fewer other flights.

Lufthansa serves Frankfurt double daily (A340-300, 747-8), along with a daily operation to Munich (A340-600). Then there is British Airways to Heathrow (A380) and Emirates to Dubai (A380).

Will you be flying on a quadjet twin-aisle soon? If so, let us know where you're going by commenting.

Sources of information: Cirium, Google Flights, Flightradar24.