Emirates, the world’s largest A380 operator, is set to receive its 100th A380 on 3rd November... with a further 40 still to come after that. The carrier accounts for no less than 45% of the 317 orders that Airbus had booked as of the end of September.

Emirates says that over 80 million passengers have flown on the superjumbo in the nine years since it first joined the fleet. Today, Emirates flies the A380 to over 45 destinations worldwide. The carrier's A380 fleet is operated by more than 1,500 pilots and 23,000 cabin crew.

On the ground at Dubai Airport, an A380-dedicated airport concourse with 20 gates offers direct boarding from the airport lounge, along with an engineering centre which includes six heavy maintenance hangars, paint shops, and the capability to completely overhaul an A380.

With its inaugural A380 flight in 2008, Emirates introduced several industry firsts including its iconic A380 Onboard Lounge and First Class Shower spa. The company says it has invested almost one billion dollars in upgrades to its inflight entertainment system over the years, including larger screens and USB ports in every seat.

Emirates also introduced the world’s first 2-class configured A380 in November 2015, making it the highest-capacity plane in the world with 615 seats on board. In standard three-class configuration, Emirates A380s offer 517 seats on long-range routes and 489 seats on very long-range routes.