Emirates takes delivery of its first Airbus A350, set for take-off today

Dubai: Dubai’s flagship carrier, Emirates, announced on Monday that it has received its highly anticipated first Airbus A350 aircraft. The airline officially handed over the aircraft Monday morning to Emirates, the airline said in a statement.

It will soon embark on its ferry flight from Toulouse (TLS) to Dubai today at 4 pm UAE time. The airline announced Monday that the delivery also marks the first new aircraft type to join the Emirates fleet since 2008.

The aircraft will officially enter commercial service in January when it makes its debut flight to its first destination, Edinburgh, followed by eight other destinations across the Middle East, West Asia and Europe.

Once the aircraft lands in Dubai, it will receive its finishing touches at Emirates Engineering before being officially unveiled at an event later this week. Interestingly, the delivery flight for the newest member of the Emirates fleet was powered by a blend of jet fuel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

The handover of Emirates’ first A350 was postponed several times this year. Emirates has deferred the planned debut of its Airbus A350 fleet due to anticipated delays in aircraft delivery, Bloomberg reported last month.

Emirates has 65 A350-900s on order and is planned to support the airline’s future growth as well as Dubai’s D33 economic agenda set out by the government of Dubai to add 400 cities to Dubai’s foreign trade map over the next decade. Now, the remaining aircraft are to be delivered to Emirates over the course of the next few years.

In May this year, Emirates said ten new A350s are expected to join the fleet by March 31, 2025. The airline plans to deploy its latest aircraft type to 9 destinations soon.

Cabin classes

These first 10 Emirates A350 aircraft will offer three cabin classes, with 32 next-generation Business Class seats, 21 seats in Premium Economy, and 259 generously pitched Economy Class seats. These aircraft are earmarked to serve short to medium-haul cities on the Emirates network, with Bahrain as its inaugural destination.

Adnan Kazim, Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer of Emirates Airline, said, “Flying the A350 to 9 cities in such a short span of time adds more premium cabin options and choice across geographies for our passengers.”

Newly delivered aircraft sporting the airline’s latest cabins will roll into scheduled service in the Middle East/GCC, India, and Europe. It plans to operate services in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Muscat in the region, as well as Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Colombo in West Asia. The airline will serve flights to Lyon, Bologna, and Edinburgh in Europe using the A350.