Further evidence emerged on Wednesday of the severe downturn in the aviation sector as Emirates pulled its giant Airbus A380s off the Dubai to New York route. The airline blamed the weakening global economy for the decision, an embarrassing U-turn only eight months after its A380 services were launched with the New York route. Emirates' failure to make New York work with the A380 has raised concerns about the large number of the double-decker aircraft ordered by the carrier. It is the A380's largest customer and has ordered 58 of the 500-seat aircraft. It operates two to New York, one to Heathrow and one to Sydney.
A380 has only 58 seats.