Emirates has completed its reconfiguration of its last 10 Boeing 777-200LR aircraft at an investment of USD $150 million (approximately AUD $208 million), converting the aircraft from three to two class cabins, featuring wider Business class seats in 2-2-2 format and a full refreshed economy class, so Australian travellers can fly better in more spacious cabins.
The reconfiguration of the 10 aircraft was executed fully in-house at Emirates Engineering’s state-of- the art facilities in Dubai. The Engineering team spent a total of over 160,000 man hours on the project, working with more than 30 suppliers and handling over 2,700 spare parts at any one time. On an average it took about 35 days for the team to completely strip and reconfigure a single aircraft.
The first Boeing 777-200LR with the new configuration was rolled out for commercial service in March 2018 and over the course of the next 12 months, Emirates completed the conversion of the remaining nine aircraft in the fleet. The project was completed almost three months ahead of schedule.
Australians can experience Emirates’ refreshed Boeing 777-200LR with a daily service from Adelaide, or when travelling from and to a number of destinations across its global network, including Santiago, Sao Paulo and Fort Lauderdale.
Retiring the last two Boeing 777-300 classic aircraft
In line with its ambitious fleet renewal programme, Emirates is also in the process of retiring the last two Boeing 777-300 classic aircraft in its fleet. A6-EMV, delivered in February 2003, has now been phased out of the Emirates fleet and A6-EMX, delivered in June 2003 will shortly also be removed from commercial service.
With the retirement of the Boeing 777-300 classic aircraft, Emirates’ Boeing fleet will be composed of the Boeing 777-300ER and the newly refreshed Boeing 777-200LR fleet.
Emirates’ fleet renewal programme for 2019 includes retiring a total of seven older Boeing 777 aircraft and taking delivery of six new Airbus A380s, which Australians can experience through daily A380 flights from Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth. Emirates operates one of the youngest widebody aircraft fleets in the global aviation industry enabling the airline’s customers to enjoy a superior experience during their flight. A younger aircraft fleet also allows for better fuel efficiency and other related environmental benefits.
The fleet renewal demonstrates Emirates’ commitment for its passengers to fly better. The refreshed cabins are accompanied by Emirates’ superior onboard offering, including a cultural culinary experience, up to 4,000 channels on its award-winning in-flight entertainment system ice and complimentary onboard Wi-Fi.
