Emirates airline marked an important fleet milestone today with the delivery of its first Airbus A350 aircraft. A6-EXA is the first of 65 A350 aircraft to be delivered to the airline over the course of the next few years. The delivery also marks the first new aircraft type to join the Emirates fleet since 2008.
The aircraft was officially handed over this morning to Emirates and is scheduled to embark on its ferry flight from Toulouse (TLS) to Dubai today at 1600hrs local time.
Once the Emirates A350 lands in Dubai, the aircraft will receive its finishing touches at Emirates Engineering before being officially unveiled at a special event later this week.
The delivery flight for the newest member of the Emirates fleet was powered by a blend of jet fuel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
The aircraft will officially enter commercial service in January when it makes its debut flight to its first destination, Edinburgh, followed by eight other destinations across the Middle East, West Asia and Europe.
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.
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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.
