Emirates orders more two-class superjumbos

Emirates has placed a new order for two Airbus A380 aircraft, taking its total order book for the superjumbo to 142 aircraft. The Gulf carrier currently has 75 A380s in service, with a further 65 to be delivered. These two additional superjumbos will be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2017, and will be configured in the carrier’s high-density two-class A380 layout which launched late last year (see news December 1, 2015). Commenting on the news Emirates’ president Sir Tim Clark said: “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.” “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.” Emirates will soon add the A380 onto routes to Prague, Taipei and Vienna, by which point it will serve 42 destinations with the superjumbo. emirates.com Mark Caswell