Dubai-based Emirates airline is set to receive its first Airbus A350 aircraft in October, with a total of five Airbus aircraft expected to be delivered to the airline by the end of this year.
Adel Al Redha, deputy president and chief operations officer at Emirates airline, said on the sidelines of the first edition of Dubai AI and Web3 Festival that the airline will receive five Airbus aircraft by the end of December this year, while no Boeing aircraft have been received so far.
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“Due to delays in aircraft deliveries, we have had to extend the service of some of our current aircraft,” he said.
Al Redha also mentioned the company’s aircraft modernization programme and Emirates’ commitment to providing the best customer experience, noting that the aircraft retrofit programme covers 190 aircraft, following an increase in the number of aircraft targeted for modernization, according to a plan that costs over $3 billion.
Al Redha explained that the delivery challenges date back years, as many companies involved in aircraft manufacturing were affected during the COVID-19 pandemic, either by reducing production or laying off a percentage of their workforce. As a result, he said, after the pandemic ended, the demand for air travel was very high, exceeding these companies’ ability to meet market demands and reorganize their operations effectively.
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The A350
Emirates has so far placed orders for 65 A350-900 aircraft. The A350-900 can accommodate 300-350 passengers in a standard three-class configuration. It flies efficiently on everything from short-range segments to ultra-long-range routes of up to 9,700nm (18,000km) non-stop.
The Emirates A350 aircraft offers three cabin classes, 32 next-generation business class seats, 21 premium economy seats, and 259 economy class seats. All of these aircraft will serve short to medium-haul cities on the Emirates network, with Bahrain as the inaugural destination.
Emirates currently operates a full fleet of wide-body aircraft, consisting of Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 aircraft.
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