Emirates expands retrofit plan by 60% to 191 aircraft

Emirates has expanded its fleet refurbishment programme by 60 percent to include 43 A380s and 28 Boeing 777 aircraft.

The original refurbishment plan, covering 67 Emirates A380s and 53 of its 777s, will now be increased to 191.

“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,” said Emirates’ president, Sir Tim Clark.

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So far 22 A380 aircraft have undergone retrofitting. The first Boeing 777 will HAVE an interior refresh in July. Each aircraft will require nearly two weeks for refurbishment before re-entering service.

Refurbishment work for the Emirates fleet will be managed entirely by, and executed in-house at, the company’s engineering centre. More than 250 project personnel, supported by 31 major partners and suppliers, are working to deliver the refreshed cabins.

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After completion of the programme, Emirates will have installed 8,104 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 14 airports: New York JFK, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, London Heathrow, Sydney, Auckland, Christchurch, Melbourne, Singapore, Mumbai, Bangalore, Sao Paulo and Dubai. 

The airline plans to expand services to Osaka in early June.

Premium economy will be available on flights to 42 cities by February 2025, while the A350 will join the fleet in September this year. The newly refurbished Boeing 777s will also serve more cities later this summer.

The four-day annual Arabian Travel Market, the region’s biggest travel and hospitality exhibition, opened in Dubai on Monday.