Emirates Expand Its Fleet Refurbishment Program By Additional 71 Aircraft

Another day, another big news from Emirates. This time, the airline has announced the extension of its fleet refurbishment program. In 2021, the airline announced this program covering 120 aircraft. Last year, the airline inducted its first refurbished Airbus A380 with a Premium Economy cabin.

Now, the airline has expanded this program by adding 71 more jets.

Emirates Expands Refurbishment Program

In 2021, Emirates announced that the refurbishment plan would include 120 aircraft, including 67 Airbus A380s and 53 Boeing 777s. Now, it has added another 71 jets to the fray. Under the renewed plan, an additional 43 A380s and 28 B777s will get a fresh interior upgrade. In short, a total of 191 aircraft will be upgraded.

Emirates is the world’s largest airline operating an only widebody fleet. The Boeing 777 and Emirates A380 act as the heart and brain of the airline. This refurbishment program will make sure that Emirates has a competitive edge in the market, providing customers with a unique experience.

Since the inception of this program, the airline has refurbished 22 Airbus A380s. These Whale Jets are now fitted with the new Premium Economy class seats. The number of Economy Class seats has been reduced to 338 to accommodate 56 Premium Economy Class seats.

First Boeing 777 Refurbishment Soon

Till now, the airline has only focused on Airbus A380s for the refurbishment process. Now, it is time for the twin-engined widebody jets. In July 2024, the first Boeing 777 will be sent for retrofit. The period of refurbishment for each B777 is around 14 days.

Within these 14 days, the Boeing 777 will be fitted with fresh Business Class seats in a 1-2-1 layout. Along with this, First class cabin will be refurbished. Similar to the Airbus A380 fleet, the B777s will also receive 24 Premium Economy Class Seats. With time, Emirates has witnessed a rise in passengers, who are willing to spend for better luxury than Economy class but can not afford Business/First class. The Premium Economy Cabin has been introduced to cater to these passengers.

Summarizing the cabin, the refreshed Boeing 777 cabin will include 24 Premium Economy Class seats, 8 First Class Suites, 40 Business, and 260 Economy Class seats. To accommodate the new Premium Economy cabin, the number of Economy class seats will be reduced from 310 to 260.

Who is Responsible for Refurbishment?

Emirates is known for its efficient operations. This retrofit program of 191 aircraft will be fully managed and implemented by the in-house engineering unit of the airline. More than 250 employees will be working 24×7 to refurbish single widebody aircraft within 14 days. The airline has support from 31 partners and suppliers, who have set their facilities in Dubai to aid the program.

Overall, this program includes the installation of around 43,000 new seats across the fleet. The airline’s fleet includes 144 B777s and 116 A380s. Around 22 A380s have already been retrofitted. A total of 8,104 Premium Economy, 1,894 First Class, 11,182 Business Class, and 21,814 Economy Class seats will be included in this refurbishment program.

Sir Tim Clark, the President of Emirates said that the airline is enhancing its multi-billion dollar investment in this programme to include more aircraft. This seat upgrade, installation of a new cabin, and a modern color scheme will provide passengers with more options and a unique experience.

Emirates: Aft Refurbishment Plans

Enough talks about the aircraft, now, let us have a look at where the airline aims to deploy the upgraded aircraft. Currently, with the refreshed 22 A380s, the airline is operating to 13 cities. This includes the following cities:

• USA: New York (JFK), Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco (SFO) & Houston (IAH)
• South America: Sau Paulo (GRU)
• Europe: London Heathrow (LHR)
• Asia: Singapore (SIN), Mumbai (BOM) & Bengaluru (BLR)
• Oceania: Sydney (SYD), Auckland (AKL), Christchurch (CHC) & Melbourne (MEL)

In June 2024, the Japanese city of Osaka will become the 4th Asian city to get the Premium Economy product of Emirates.

Within the next 8 months, the airline will be serving around 42 cities across the globe with the Premium Economy Product. During the same period, the airline will see more improvement in services with the first Airbus A350 entering into service in September and the first refurbished B777 visiting the workshop in June month.

Emirates Airbus A350 Destinations Announced

This extension in the refurbishment program comes just a day after the airline announced its initial destinations for the Airbus A350 fleet. Emirates will be receiving delivery of 10 Airbus A350s by March 2025. With these jets, it will launch operations to 9 cities in the short and medium-haul range.

These cities include 3 in the Gulf: Bahrain, Kuwait & Muscat; 3 in the Indian subcontinent: Mumbai, Ahmedabad & Colombo; and 3 in Europe: Edinburgh, Lyon & Bologne.

Bahrain will be the launch destination for the Airbus A350. The first scheduled commercial flight between Bahrain and Dubai using the A350 will be operated on September 15, 2024.

Conclusion

Emirates has expanded its retrofit program to include a total of 191 jets, which are slated to get the Premium Economy product along with refreshed First & Business class. With the induction of the first Airbus A350 and the refurbishment of its first Boeing 777, the airline has further increased its focus on passenger experience.

What do you think about this refurbishment program extension? Discuss in the comment section.