Emirates plans future beyond A380
dubai — Emirates airline on Wednesday marked 10 years of the world’s largest passenger aircraft, Airbus A380, carrying more than 105 million passengers and flying over 1.5 billion kilometres.
Analysts said the airline is planning its future beyond A380 and Boeing 777X and 787 are likely to form the backbone of the Dubai carrier’s long-haul fleet in the coming 10 years.
The Dubai-based airline operates 104 double-decker aircraft and flies to 49 cities across six continents. In the last decade, it flew 115,000 flights of A380, which is equivalent to 39,000 trips around the globe. Across all classes, over 120 million meals have been served on the A380 since 2008.
Saj Ahmad, chief analyst, StrategicAero Research, said there’s no question that the A380 has been a big money-spinner for Emirates and that the airline exploits its Dubai hub with this behemoth to great effect.
“Emirates is also planning its future beyond the A380. No airplane lasts forever and its reality that as it ages, new and more efficient inductees in 777X and the 787 will start to form the backbone of Emirates’ long-haul fleet for the next decade and beyond,” Ahmad said in a statement to Khaleej Times.
He predicted that Emirates’ plans to induct up to 200 777Xs will primarily replace today’s 777s, but by the time it takes its 200th 777X delivery, the A380 fleet will be operationally expensive
and economically inefficient — so it stands to reason that they’ll procure more 777Xs and 787s going forward.
For the here and now, Emirates is enjoying its dominance, thanks to the allure of the A380 for its passengers and successful harmonisation of the airline’s growth and pricing in tandem with the economies of scale that it has with its huge widebody fleet.
“Aside from providing Airbus with thousands of jobs, Emirates’ commitment to the A380 underscores how the airline has utilised its organic growth strategy to capture traffic in large numbers, which has in turn propelled Dubai International as the world’s busiest international airport,” he said.
Sir Tim Clark, president of Emirates airline, said passengers love to fly A380 because of its spaciousness and shower spa.