Emirates Airline has begun its major two-year fleet retrofit program, with work starting on the first of 120 aircraft earmarked for a full cabin interior upgrade.
The most significant aspect of the refit will be installation of the airline’s new premium economy seats.
A specialist engineering team is responsible for the project, including 190 newly recruited personnel, for what the airline has described as the biggest-known aircraft retrofit program in modern commercial aviation. The engineering department has also created purpose-built workshops to handle various aspects of the project.
First into the hangar at Emirates Engineering Center in Dubai was an Airbus A380, after it landed from Cairo Oct. 31. Work on the first “live” aircraft began following months of test runs on an A380 testbed. The first A380 to undergo the procedure will have its cabin stripped out, then replaced, over 16 days.
Engineers will first remove the window seats in economy class, allowing another team to remove the cabin’s side panels, which will go to one of three purpose-built workshops to be laminated with Emirates’ latest color palette. To make room for the 56 premium economy seats, 88 economy seats at the front of the main deck will be removed.
On the upper deck, business and first-class seats will be off-loaded to workshops. The business-class seats will be repainted and re-upholstered with new leather at Emirates Engineering, while first-class seats will be sent to a specialist at Dubai World Central (DWC) for refurbishing. All carpets and floorings will be replaced before the refurbished seats are re-installed.
The second aircraft will start the process on Dec. 1. As the program gathers pace, two aircraft will be worked on simultaneously, resulting in one new aircraft being grounded for its refurbishment every eight days.
The airline’s schedule dictates that all 67 A380s earmarked for the retrofit program will be back in service by May 23, 2024. Work will then start on 53 of its Boeing 777-300ERs. All 120 retrofitted aircraft will be back in service by March 2025.
Emirates recently introduced premium economy cabins are currently available to customers on major A380 routes to London, Paris and Sydney. The airline has announced plans to introduce the new cabin on services to/from New York JFK, San Francisco, Melbourne, Auckland and Singapore by the end of March 2023.
Related Content
