DELHI: Middle East based Emirates Airlines has retired the last Airbus A330 and A340 aircraft in its fleet from active service, as per a press release. This makes Emirates the first and only airline in the world to operate a fleet of all Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 aircraft for its passenger flights, it said.
The airline added that the move was in line with its vision to offer a superior passenger experience and improve environmental performance through a modern and state of the art wide-body aircraft fleet. All its aircrafts now feature a range of passenger focused amenities on board including larger windows, higher ceiling, and a wider cabin in addition to being more fuel efficient than older aircraft.
The airline said that since January 2015, it has retired 18 A330 and 5 A340 aircraft from its fleet. In addition to the aircraft that have been retired from active service since January 2015, it plans to further phase out some 25 aircraft over the course of 2017 and 2018.
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With the phasing out of the older planes, Emirates Airlines now operates one of the youngest fleets in the industry with an average age of 5.2 years on average. The two youngest aircraft in the fleet- Emirates’ 85th A380- the first of the new generation A380 aircraft delivered in October 2016 and Emirates’ 125th Boeing 777-300ER- are less than 2 weeks old. Emirates’ fleet of all Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 aircraft will also have a smaller environmental impact as both aircraft types have better fuel efficiency and emissions performance than the retired aircraft.
For calendar year 2016 Emirates will take delivery of 36 new aircraft – 20 Airbus A380s and 16 Boeing 777. This also includes the next generation Boeing 777-300ER aircraft – with upgraded business class seats and other features including a lower fuel burn ratio – to be delivered from November 2016.
Emirates is currently the largest operator of the Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 aircraft with 85 Airbus A380s and 160 Boeing 777s in its fleet, it said. Out of the 234 aircraft worth over USD 112 billion that Emirates has in its order book, 150 will be the new Boeing 777X aircraft that will be delivered starting 2020.
Musafir Namah Bureau
