Emirates has begun carrying out its plans to upgrade the entire interior cabins of 120 Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 aircraft.
The target is to completely retrofit four Emirates aircraft from start to finish every month, continuously over a period of two years.
Once the 67 earmarked A380s are refreshed and back in service, 53 777s will undergo their facelift.
This will see nearly 4,000 new premium economy seats installed, 728 first class suites refurbished and over 5,000 business class seats upgraded by the time the project concludes in April 2025.
In addition, carpets and stairs will be upgraded, and cabin interior panels refreshed with new tones and design motifs including that of the ghaf trees which are native to the UAE.
This ambitious project, representing a multi-billion dollar investment, officially commences in November and is managed entirely by Emirates’ Engineering team.
Emirates says that no other airline has handled a retrofit of this magnitude in-house. Therefore Emirates Engineering teams have been planning and testing extensively to establish processes and address any possible snags.
Trials began on an A380 in July, where engineers took each cabin apart piece-by-piece and logged every step. From removing seats and panelling to bolts and screws, every action was tested, timed and mapped out. Potential impediments to completing the installation of Emirates’ new premium economy class or the retrofit of the remaining three cabins in 16 days were flagged and documented to review.
New purpose-built workshops will be set up at Emirates Engineering to repaint, re-trim and re-upholster business and economy Class seats with new covers and cushioning. First class suites will be disassembled and sent to a specialised company to replace the leather, arm rests and other materials.
Emirates is currently offering its new premium economy cabin class to customers travelling on A380 routes to London, Paris, Sydney. As the retrofit programme continues to gather momentum over the next few months, Emirates will add routes to which it will offer the new premium economy class to customers.
