Watch: First retrofitted Emirates A380 deployed on Dubai-London route

Dubai: The first of newly retrofitted A380s was deployed today on the Dubai-London Heathrow service, the airline said on Friday.

The refurbished A380 features Emirates’ latest products and interiors across all cabins, including 56 Premium Economy class seats on the main deck. On the upper deck, First and Business Class seats sport Emirates’ latest cream-coloured leather upholstery and lighter-toned wood finishing, similar to the airline’s ‘game changer’ product. Emirates’ signature ghaf tree motif also features prominently throughout the interiors, including hand-stencilled panels in the First Class Shower Spa.

“With our latest interiors and products, this newly refurbished aircraft elevates our inflight experience in all classes of travel, and enables us to offer more Premium Economy seats to meet customer demand,” said Sir Tim Clark, President Emirates Airline. “I’m particularly proud that this refurbishment work was designed, conducted and completed inhouse at our facilities in Dubai, to the highest standards of quality and safety.”

The next Emirates A380 aircraft lined up for its make-over is A6-EUW, and work is expected to be completed by the end of this month.

As the program progresses, engineers will work simultaneously on 2 aircraft, which means one aircraft in the fleet will be withdrawn from service every eight days and transferred to Emirates Engineering facilities.

By 2024, all 67 A380s assigned for refurbishment will have returned to service. Emirates will then begin work on its 53 Boeing 777s earmarked for this project. The airline expects to complete the program in 2025.