First of 120 Retrofitted Emirates Aircraft Enters Service

On January 6th 2022 the first of the Emirates retrofitted aircraft entered service. The refurbished plane, an Airbus A380 registered A6-EVM, flew between Dubai and London on flight EK003. Let’s take a closer look thought at what the Emirates retrofitting program is all about and how it will take place in the coming years.

The New Refurbished Emirates A380

The A6-EVM Emirates Airbus A380 is the first of an extensive line of planes that the giant middle eastern carrier has in plan to refurbish and retrofit. Specifically, the Dubai based airline is going to bring in for refurbishing well 120 aircraft with a total price tag of 2 billion US Dollars.

Work on A6-EVM lasted just around 1 month and another Airbus A380 is ready to follow its footsteps. A6-EUW will therefore be the next aircraft in line for retrofitting and cabin modernisation. Work on EUW will terminate by the end of January.

About The EK Cabin Retrofitting

Now that we know how many aircraft of the Emirates fleet are involved in this program it’s time to find out how they will change. The retrofitting of these 120 planes will have the interiors modernized.

The upholstery will be brought up to date with that one fitted on all new EK planes. Furthermore, these planes will be also getting the new Premium Economy seats. This will grant the airline more operational flexibility as the program moves on making its way through the line of planes.

Finally, the premium cabins will also get an upgrade. Business and First class will get the latest seat models bringing a whole new level of comfort.

Which Aircraft Are Getting the Upgrades?

As we mentioned earlier 120 planes of the Emirates fleet will be fitted with these new cabins. However this will not be an even split between A380s and Boeing 777s. To be precise 67 Airbus A380s will get the works while 53 Boeing 777s will be worked on.

How Long Will it Take Emirates To Complete The Programme?

The plan is to have finished work on all 67 A380s by the end of 2024. That means finishing work on the larger planes in just under 2 years.

Another year will be necessary to complete the cabin upgrade on the remaining 53 Boeing 777s. This means that work on all 120 planes is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2025.