Emirates to serve Nice with A380 eight months after truck attack

Emirates will serve Nice on the French Riviera using an A380 superjumbo this summer, signaling a revival in tourist demand eight months after a terrorist drove a truck into crowds on the resort’s promenade, killing more than 80 people. The Dubai-based carrier will deploy the Airbus Group jet on daily services to Nice Cote d’Azur Airport as of July 1, providing a 44 percent capacity boost compared with the Boeing Co. 777-300ER that’s currently used, it said Thursday. The Emirates announcement comes a week after Abu Dhabi-based rival Etihad Airways said it would use an A380 for one of its two daily Paris services during the peak July 1 to Oct. 28 period after an upsurge in demand. Travel to France fell amid a series of attacks that began in 2015, with hotel bookings in Nice slumping 30 percent in immediate aftermath of the July 14 deaths. Nice airport has upgraded its boarding bridge and juggled operations to accommodate the double-decker, Dominique Thillaud, its president, said in the release, while Emirates Chief Commercial Officer Thierry Antinori predicted that deployment of the A380 will provide a further boost to visitor numbers.<br/>