Emirates has completed the retrofitting of the first of 67 A380 aircraft, with the superjumbo entering service on the carrier’s Dubai-Heathrow route.
Aircraft A6-EVM now features 56 of the airline’s premium economy seats which were unveiled in 2020, as well as refurbished first and business class seats, new carpets and wall panels, and the appearance of Emirates’ signature ghaf tree motif including hand-stencilled panels in the first class showers.
A timelapse video of the work can be seen further down this article.
As the retrofit programme continues engineers will work on two aircraft at a time, with one superjumbo being withdrawn from service every eight days.
Aircraft A6-EUW is the next in line to be worked on, and is expected to be back in service by the end of the month.
Work is slated to be completed on all 67 A380s by 2024, when the carrier will turn its attention to its fleet of B777 aircraft.
In total Emirates is to retrofit 120 A380 and B777 aircraft by 2025 at a cost of $2 billion, in what it has dubbed the “largest known fleet retrofit” project.
For our recent update on the latest situation regarding the Airbus A380 fleets across all 14 operators, see:
Commenting on the news Sir Tim Clark, president Emirates Airline, said:
“Customers will notice the difference the moment they step onboard – the spacious A380 will look and feel even more impressive and comfortable. With our latest interiors and products, this newly refurbished aircraft elevates our inflight experience in all classes of travel, and enables us to offer more Premium Economy seats to meet customer demand.
I’m particularly proud that this refurbishment work was designed, conducted and completed inhouse at our facilities in Dubai, to the highest standards of quality and safety. It reflects the world-class aviation capabilities and infrastructure that exists within Emirates, and here in the UAE.”
Emirates has gradually been rolling out its premium economy offering onto key routes including Heathrow, Paris CDG, Sydney and New York JFK.
Auckland will join the list from January 23, followed by Melbourne on February 1 and Christchurch from March 26.
