Emirates orders more A380s

Emirates has placed an order with Airbus for two additional A380 aircraft.

The Dubai-based airline already operates the world’s largest fleet of A380s, with 75 in service and a further 65 on order. The additional two aircraft, which are expected to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2017, take Emirates’ total A380 order book to 142. This means that Emirates now accounts for 44% of all global orders for the A380.

“From now until the end of 2017, Emirates will retire 30 older aircraft from our fleet. At the same time, to meet our growth expectations, we will receive delivery of 24 new Boeing 777, and 33 new A380 aircraft including these two additional A380 aircraft just ordered. This is in line with our strategy to operate a modern and efficient fleet and offer the best possible experience for our customers,” explained the airline’s president, Sir Tim Clark.

“We’ve always been open about how the A380 has been a big success for Emirates. It’s a boon for our operations to slot constrained airports and we get a lot of positive feedback from our customers. In fact, demand from customers for our A380 product is growing, as we expand our A380 network and more travellers have had the opportunity to experience it first-hand.”

The two new aircraft will be configured in Emirates’ new 615-seat, two-class layout. With 58 seats in business class and 557 in economy, this is the highest capacity commercial aircraft operating in the world today.

In the coming months, Emirates plans to launch A380 flights to Prague, Taipei and Vienna, taking its total A380 network to 42 destinations.

World’s largest A380 operators:

Emirates                        75 aircraft
Singapore Airlines:     19
Lufthansa:                    14
Qantas:                          12
British Airways:           11