Currently, Emirates Airline operates a fleet that only consists of the Airbus A380 aircraft and Boeing 777s. While Emirates wanted more A380s, but in an improvised version, Airbus did not heed to their requirements and shut down A380 production for a lack of future orders. With this, Emirates was forced 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. Today, Emirates unveiled the curtain on their plans for the A350 aircraft, which will be received by the airline in 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.

Emirates unveils the plans for the A350-900

The Emirates A350-900 aircraft will offer three cabin classes, with 32 next-generation Business Class seats, 21 seats in Premium Economy, and 259  Economy Class seats. All of these aircraft are earmarked to serve short to medium-haul cities on the Emirates network, with Bahrain as its inaugural destination.

Emirates today announced the first set of destinations to be served by its A350 aircraft entering service in September 2024. With 10 new A350s expected to join the Emirates fleet by March 31, 2025, the airline plans to deploy its latest aircraft type to 9 destinations in the coming months, offering customers its latest cabin experiences.

Here are the routes that are planned for entry in the coming months:

• In the Middle East/GCC
  • Emirates will operate its first A350 to Bahrain on the daily EK839/840 service from September 15, 2024. The frequency of A350 services will progressively increase to cover two Bahrain services with the second service starting on  November 1, 2024.
  • The first Emirates A350 will land in Kuwait on the daily EK853/854 service on September 16, 2024.
  • Muscat’s daily EK866/867 will be served by the A350 from December 1, 2024.
• In West Asia
  • The Emirates A350 will be deployed on EK502/503 to Mumbai from October 27, 2024.
  • Ahmedabad’s daily EK538/539 will be served by the A350 from October 27, 2024.
  • Colombo’s fourth daily service EK654/655 will be served by the A350 from January 1, 2025.
• In Europe
  • Lyon will be served daily with the Emirates A350 from December 1, 2024.
  • Bologna will be served by the A350 from December 1, 2024.
  • Edinburgh will rejoin the Emirates network from November 4, 2024, operated by the A350.

Announcing the details, Adnan Kazim, Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer of Emirates Airline said:

The A350 will be a game-changer for Emirates, enabling us to serve regional points with superior operating efficiency and flexibility across the Middle East and GCC, West Asia and Europe. With the latest generation cabin products including more of our sought-after Premium Economy to more cities, top-notch in-flight entertainment technologies and an abundance of other customer-friendly features, the Emirates A350 builds on our long-standing commitment of investing in the very best customer experience in the sky. Flying the A350 to 9 cities in such a short span of time adds more premium cabin options and choice across geographies for our customers, and ensures we maintain our competitive edge and industry leading position.

Emirates will announce more destinations in the coming months as new aircraft join its fleet.

Bottomline

Emirates has announced that their A350 aircraft will enter commercial service in September 2024, and from there on, the airline will rapidly extend the A350-900 service to 9 routes in quick succession to start with. The aircraft will be equipped with 32  Business Class seats, 21 seats in Premium Economy, and 259  Economy Class seats. Flights are already on sale.

What do you expect of the new Emirates A350 aircraft?

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