Emirates Airline decided to bring forward the schedule for receiving the latest three new A380s that are pending delivery. Airbus will complete delivery of the Dubai-based airline’s order in November instead of June 2022.
After deliveries, the Emirates A380 fleet will reach 118 aircraft, six of them equipped with the new Premium Economy class.
“We have come to an agreement with Airbus to bring forward the delivery of our remaining A380 orders and have secured financing for these units. These new aircraft will also add more highly sought-after Premium Economy seats into our inventory, as we prepare to fully launch this product cabin in the coming months,” said Sir Tim Clark, President Emirates Airline.
Thanks to advances in vaccination against Covid-19, Emirates has reintroduced the A380 in part of its routes. According to the carrier, the Airbus jet will fly to Amman, Cairo, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Guangzhou, London Heathrow, Los Angeles, Manchester, Mauritius, Moscow, Munich, New York JFK, Paris, Toronto, Vienna, Washington DC, and Zurich by October.
Despite having only 28 planes currently in operation and having already removed one unit from operation, Emirates still intends to rely on the A380 for many years to come. The company bets on the new internal configuration brought by the latest aircraft to obtain a better financial return than before.
The A380’s upgraded cabin offers 14 private suites in First Class, 76 upgraded Executive seats, 338 Economy seats with a more ergonomic design, and 56 Premium Economy seats with 40-inch pitch and 19.5-inch width .
Currently, the remaining three A380s are stored in Europe. Airbus has already started to transform the assembly line in Toulouse for the production of the A320neo family.
