As part of its retrofit programme, Emirates announced that it will completely refurbish 43 A380s and 28 Boeing 777 aircraft, bringing the total number of 191 aircraft.
The original plan called for 120 aircraft – 67 A380s and 53 777s to undergo full refurbishment. The Boeing 777 remains the backbone of the Emirates fleet while the A380 is the airline’s flagship customer favourite.
The refurbishment programme is part of the airline’s commitment to “provide customers with an unparalleled travel experience”.
“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,” said Tim Clark, president of Emirates Airline.
So far, Emirates has retrofitted 22 A380 planes. In July, the first Boeing 777 will undergo an interior refresh.
It will take about two weeks for each Boeing 777 to be refurbished before it resumes service. Plans include the refurbishment of the First-Class cabin, all new Business Class seats making a debut on the aircraft in an updated 1-2-1 seating configuration, in addition to 24 of the latest Premium Economy seats, giving customers more premium options to choose from.
The refurbished Boeing 777 will be configured with 332 seats in four classes, featuring eight First Class suites, 40 Business Class seats, and 260 Economy Class seats. To make room for the new Premium Economy cabin, 50 Economy seats will be removed.
When the retrofit programme is fully completed, the airline 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.
Emirates currently operates its refurbished A380 aircraft fitted 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 airline will be boosting services with the new cabin to Osaka in early June.
The airline will be serving 42 cities with Premium Economy by February 2025 with the A350 entering its fleet in September of this year, in addition to the newly refurbished Boeing 777s also slated to begin serving more cities later this summer.
