MIAMI – Emirates Airlines (EK) has today received its 116th Airbus A380, A6-EVL. The airline will welcome two other aircraft this month.
Emirates has taken delivery of this aircraft using a combination of standard and sustainable jet-fuel (SAF). The airline made history by this flight as no one used SAF previously to fuel an A380. The fuel came from Finland and was used previously as cooking oil.
Sir Tim Clark, President of Emirates Airline said that the A380 has been a success story for Emirates”. The A380 has helped us efficiently serve customer demand at slot constrained airports and also on trunk routes, supporting our long-haul hub operations. We’ve been able to introduce new concepts onboard that have transformed the flying experience for the better.”
Clark added, “We look forward to introducing our Premium Economy experience on which will make its debut on an A380 in the coming months. The A380 will remain our flagship for the next decade, and we will re-deploy it on more routes as travel demand returns.”
Premium Economy
Airbus only delivered this A380 in 2020 but plans to deliver two others. One of them will feature the brand-new Premium Economy. We don’t know much about the new product; however, President Tim Clark said it would be like a “lazy-Z” configuration, according to Executive Traveller.
In addition, many think that the airline will use HAECO’s Eclipse design. The seat manufacturer previously hinted that an unnamed Middle-Eastern airline will use its products starting 2020. However, neither EK nor HAECO have confirmed it.
In 2021 and 2022, Airbus will deliver a further six A380s to EK. The last aircraft has already left Station 40 and Airbus will deliver it in 2022.
Emirates A380
As of now, the A380 aircraft are serving seven destinations, but EK plans to increase that number. These include Amman (AMM), London (LHR), Manchester (MAN), and Moscow (DME) among others. The carrier plans to have the whole fleet operational by 2022.
However, while the airline adds a few A380s to its fleet, it will also retire some. The first one left the fleet in October after it was phase-out in June. The airline will probably also retire older superjumbos in order to keep its fleet young.
Featured image source: Emirates
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