Dubai-based Emirates said on Wednesday it will replace two double-decker Airbus A380s it uses on a daily Dubai-New York flight with smaller Boeing 777s starting June 1.

A second daily roundtrip already using the same type of Boeing plane remains unchanged.

The turnaround comes less than eight months after Emirates debuted the wide-body 'superjumbo' in the US amid much fanfare.

Since then, American household and company travel budgets have grown increasingly strained as the country slipped deeper into recession.

'As the global economy has affected international air travel, this aircraft redeployment was based solely on a change in capacity demands,' Emirates said in an e-mailed statement.

'When economic conditions improve, we anticipate demand will be restored on the Dubai-New York JFK service, at which time Emirates will certainly evaluate redeploying the A380 on this route.'

Emirates plans to redeploy the A380s onto one of two daily flights to Bangkok, Thailand, and on service three times a week to Toronto. -- AP