5% Of Emirates’ A380 Fleet Set To Have Premium Economy By November

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Emirates is set to increase the number of aircraft it operates with a premium economy cabin – reaching six out of a fleet of 118 by November this year. This comes as it speeds up aircraft delivery from Airbus and further shows Emirates’ commitment to the new cabin.

Emirates Airbus A380-861 A6-EEU (2)
Emirates will receive its last three A380s this year, all with the new Premium Economy cabin. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

Bringing forward A380 deliveries

Emirates announced on September 1st that it was speeding up deliveries of its last three A380 aircraft from Airbus. These were planned for delivery by June 2022 but will now join the fleet by November 2021. They are all being fitted with the new Emirates interior, with four cabins including Premium Economy.

This will bring the total number of aircraft fitted with the cabin to six – out of a total fleet of 118. This is expected to increase further as other aircraft are converted, but we do not yet know the timetable for this.

Emirates, Airbus A380, Premium Economy
The new cabin comes in a 2-4-2 layout. Photo: Emirates

CEO Tim Clark explained the change, saying:

“We’ve 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 cabin product in the coming months.”

Emirates Premium Economy

Emirates first announced that it would enter the premium economy market in 2018, with plans to install the Premium Economy cabin on new A380s. This was, of course, a long time after many other airlines had moved into premium economy (EVA Air and Virgin Atlantic were the first airlines back in the 1980s). The Middle Eastern airlines, though, did not go for this, and Emirates became the first of the major airlines to introduce it.

Emirates at first proceeded slowly with its rollout. The cabin was finally revealed in late 2020 and was well received. It features 19.5 inches wide seats with 40 inches pitch and 56 seats in a 2-4-2 layout at the front of the main deck. As well as the new A380s, some existing A380s will be retrofitted later. It will also be installed on some of the upcoming Boeing 777X aircraft.

Emirates, Airbus A380, Deliveries
The new Premium Economy cabin. Photo: Emirates

The response to the cabin has been very positive. In February 2021, Tim Clark said he was shocked by the public response to the new cabin. Even though the airline still hadn’t launched a new service for the cabin, seats were fully booked for the first couple of months. Speaking to Simple Flying in April 2021, he explained how the new cabin was a priority for the airline, saying:

“We will roll out at pace; we’ve got to convert a lot of the aeroplanes in the process of getting Premium Economy to market. So that’s high priority for us.”

The last A380s

With this announcement, we will also see the last A380s from Airbus delivered early. The A380 program, of course, has already ended, but the last deliveries are still significant.

The aircraft are already completed and currently being fitted out and undergoing final testing. The last aircraft left Airbus’ Toulouse facility for Hamburg in March, where the cabins are installed, and the final painting is carried out.

Emirates, Airbus A380, Deliveries
The last of Emirates A380s are now in final preparation in Hamburg. Photo: Getty Images

With the new A380s on their way, attention will likely shift to refitting existing aircraft to further speed up the Premium Economic rollout. The cabin is still not offered for sale (just as upgrades), but this will hopefully change in the coming months.

Are you excited about Emirates’ new Premium Economy cabin? What strategy do you think the airline will follow for further updates? Feel free to discuss in the comments. 

Source: https://simpleflying.com/premium-economy-a380-emirates/

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