Emirates Airline operates a fleet comprising only the Airbus A380 aircraft and Boeing 777s. While Emirates wanted more A380s, in an improvised version, Airbus shut down A380 production for a lack of future orders. This forced Emirates to rethink its fleet renewal strategy. The airline intends to keep the A380 aircraft flying through the mid-2030s, but they will be retired along the way.

Emirates now has the Airbus A350-900s, the Boeing 787-9 and the Boeing 777X to form the next backbone of the Emirates fleet. In May 2024, Emirates unveiled the curtain on their plans for the A350 aircraft, which was then intended to be received by the airline in August 2024. Emirates has 65 A350-900 aircraft on order at the moment, and it refused to order the A350-1000 aircraft to the fleet at the Dubai Airshow 2023. The A350s, per Emirates, are designated for medium and long-haul operations.

The Emirates A350-900 aircraft offers three cabin classes: 32 Business Class seats, 21 Premium Economy seats, and 259  Economy Class seats. These aircraft are earmarked to serve short—to medium-haul cities on the Emirates network.

Emirates takes delivery of third A350 Aircraft

Emirates was initially supposed to receive its first Airbus A350 aircraft in May 2023. However, that date was pushed into 2024, and the airline planned to induct it into the fleet in August 2024. This date continued to slip until November 2024, when Emirates confirmed that it had taken delivery of its first A350 aircraft in Toulouse.

A6-EXA was the first of 65 A350 aircraft to be delivered to the airline. It is also the first new aircraft type to join the Emirates fleet since 2008. Since then, A6-EXB arrived in December 2024, and A6-EXD arrived in Dubai today. Emirates launched flights to Edinburgh, Kuwait City, and Bahrain with the first pair of A350 aircraft, which it pressed into service. It is a beautiful aircraft on the inside; you should check out the pictures here.

Emirates brings forward the launch of flights to Mumbai and Ahmedabad with the A350.

With the third A350 already in Dubai, the airline has moved its operations to Mumbai and Ahmedabad with the A350-900. The airline had initially scheduled to launch the A350 to the Indian ports on February 1, 2025. Now, effective January 26, 2025, these flights will operate to Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

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What lies inside?

The initial batch of A350 aircraft are in a three-cabin configuration featuring business class, premium economy, and economy.

Here are the routes that will receive the A350:

• Edinburgh (EDI) – operational
• Ahmedabad (AMD) on January 26, 2025
• Bahrain (BAH) – operational
• Kuwait City (KWI) – operational
• Mumbai (BOM) on January 26, 2025
• Colombo (CMB) on March 1, 2025
• Lyon (LYS) on March 1, 2025
• Bologna (BLQ) on March 15, 2025

Bottomline

Emirates has taken delivery of the first three of their 65 Airbus A350-900s. This marks the entry of another new aircraft type into the Emirates fleet, the first new aircraft since 2008 when the Airbus A380 was inducted into the fleet. Emirates has been consistently operating with the Boeing 777 and the Airbus A380 as the two aircraft in its fleet for a long time. The A350 will arrive in Mumbai and Ahmedabad on January 26, 2025 for the first time and will operate daily services there on.

What are your expectations from Emirates’ Airbus A350s?

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