After receiving its first A350-900 Emirates is finally bringing the aircraft into operation. This is a big deal for the airline which has operated for the largest part of the past 10 years only two aircraft types, the A380 and the 777. That duopoly is now ending with the airline introducing the A350-900 in its operations.
First Emirates A350 Flights Coming Online This Week
As many of you might know, Emirates was supposed to receive its first A350 aircraft much earlier than it actually did. The first aircraft was supposed to arrive in late summer, however, it only arrived in the latter stages of November 2024.
That meant that the carrier could no longer follow through with its plan to introduce the plane into service in early fall 2024. It had to push back the date several times until January 2025.
Now the moment has come, Emirates is ready to start using its first A350-900s on some of its regional routes before deploying it on longer services to Europe and Asia.
Kuwait and Bahrain the first of Emirates A350 destinations
The two tiny Gulf countries of Bahrain and Kuwait will be the first to welcome the Emirates latest fleet addition. They are both destinations served multiple times per day by the Dubai-based airline, with one of those services becoming an A350 one. Both destinations will see the new aircraft takeover part of the daily flight offering starting January 8th 2025.
Specifically, Dubai-Bahrain flights EK837/838 and EK839/840 will move over from the Boeing 777 to the A350 and Dubai-Kuwait flight EK853/854 will follow the same transition.
These destinations were originally scheduled to receive the Emirates Airbus A350-900 on September 15th 2024. That’s how far forward this launch has slid little by little.
More Destinations With New Generation Cabin Interiors
The A350 replacing the Boeing 777 on these services introduces the airline’s newest generation of premium cabin interiors to more destinations. While Kuwait already had services featuring the newest premium cabins (as in October Emirates deployed its retrofitted 777 on the route), passengers flying from Bahrain will have the possibility to enjoy this new onboard experience for the first time.
These are only the first steps for the newest Emirates aircraft as it will later also serve Edinburgh, Bologna and Lyon among other destinations. To check the complete list of destinations, check out this other post.