Middle Eastern carrier Emirates has completed reconfiguration of the first of 15 two-class Airbus A380s, which are being updated to a three-class interior including a premium-economy cabin on the upper deck.
This refit of A6-EUX ha involved “extensive modifications” to the upper deck, with the removal of 120 economy-class and the installation of 56 premium-economy seats in a 2-3-2 layout.
Emirates says its personnel carried out structural work to remove, upgrade and reposition galley modules, stowage areas, overhead bins, partitions and other cabin features. The change also involved changes to electrical and plumbing systems.
The overall 569-seat layout, down from the previous 615, features an extra 18 business-class seats, also on the upper deck, taking the total to 76.
Emirates says the change, which took two months, brings its premium-economy cabin to the upper A380 deck for the first time.
“With learnings from the first project integrated into future processes, retrofits of other two-class A380 aircraft are expected to take around half the time,” it adds.
It expects all 15 aircraft to be reconfigured by the end of this year. The initial aircraft has been deployed on the route from Dubai to Birmingham.
Retrofit of the jets is part of a broader update which has so far covered 95 aircraft, comprising 42 A380s and 53 Boeing 777-300ERs. A total of 219 have been earmarked for refurbishment.
Credits: Emirates
