Emirates has announced that they will retrofit an additional 43 Airbus A380s and 28 Boeing 777s, expanding their nose-to-tail cabin refresh program to a total of 191 aircraft. This will ensure upgraded product consistency across the fleet well into the mid-2030s.
On Tuesday (May 7, 2024) Emirates announced an expansion of their nose-to-tail cabin retrofit program with the addition of 43 Airbus A380s and 28 Boeing 777 aircraft, bringing the total to 191 aircraft. The original plan included 67 A380s and 53 777s, and the expansion will ensure a consistent and elevated guest experience across the carrier’s fleet into the mid-2030s. Thus far, Emirates has retrofitted 22 A380s, and the first B777 will undergo an interior refresh in July 2024. Each Boing 777 will take two weeks to refurbish and will receive an updated First Class cabin, new Business Class seats in a 1-2-1 configuration, and 24 of the carrier’s latest Premium Economy seats.
In Tuesday’s announcement, Emirates Airline’s President, Sir Tim Clark, said,
“We’re topping up our multi-billion dollar investment in the retrofit programme to introduce cutting-edge cabin products on more of our A380s and Boeing 777s, demonstrating a clear commitment to elevating the customer experience with a best-in-class suite of products across every cabin. The addition of more aircraft fitted with our newest generation seats, updated cabin finishings and a contemporary colour palette also marks a significant step in ensuring more customers can consistently experience our premium products across both aircraft types.”
Emirates’ refurbished Boeing 777s will be configured with 332 seats in four classes, with eight First Class suites, 40 Business Class seats, and 260 Economy Class seats. Fifty Economy Class seats will be removed to make room for the new Premium Economy cabin. All of the refurbishment work is being managed and executed in-house at Emirates' Engineering Centre, with over 230 team members working around the clock, supported by 31 major partners and suppliers. When the retrofit program is complete, the carrier will have installed 8,104 next-generation Premium Economy seats, 1,894 refreshed First Class suites, 11,182 upgraded Business Class seats, and 21,814 Economy Class seats.
Introducing Emirates' Next Generation Onboard Experience - Courtesy Emirates
Currently, Emirates operates their retrofitted A380s with Premium Economy to New York-JFK, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, London Heathrow, Sydney, Auckland, Christchurch, Melbourne, Singapore, Mumbai, Bangalore, Sao Paulo and Dubai. The retrofitted super-jumbo with Premium Economy will also be deployed on the route to Osaka, Japan from early June 2024. By February 2025, Emirates will be serving 42 cities with Premium Economy, which will be facilitated by the entry of the Airbus A350 into the carrier’s fleet this September, along with the newly retrofitted Boeing 777s.
Source: Emirates