volume 71-2021

DUBAI: Emirates will install premium economy cabins in three of its existing Airbus A380 superjumbos as it prepares for an anticipated shift in demand once the airline industry emerges from the coronavirus crisis.

The world’s biggest long-haul airline will retrofit the seats – which offer more room than economy at a cheaper price than business class – into planes supplied by Amedeo Air Four, the leasing firm said in a statement Wednesday.

The change should help adapt the Emirates fleet to a post-Covid travel market in which well-heeled leisure passengers may be prepared to pay more for extra personal space amid continuing health concerns, even as demand for business trips remains subdued or switches to less costly options.

Though Emirates, the largest A380 operator, said at the end of 2020 that its last few new double-deckers would feature premium economy, President Tim Clark only revealed last month that it would convert older ones.

Four-class jets will have 56 premium-economy seats, according a December statement, with the number in coach dropping to 338 to accommodate them. The A380s will still have 76 business and 14 first-class berths.

Dubai-based Emirates has been a late convert to attractions of an upscale coach, which was first introduced at Virgin Atlantic and Taiwan’s EVA Air in the early 1990s.

Superjumbo operators including British Airways, Singapore Airlines and Qantas have long offered the product on their planes, while Lufthansa introduced it in 2015.

Emirates aimed to incorporate premium economy on Boeing’s 777X wide-body last year but switched to deployment on the A380 when that program hit delays.

A single new superjumbo was delivered with the cabin in January and five yet to be delivered from Airbus are expected to be similarly equipped.

KUALA LUMPUR: As per a report, Malaysia Airlines’ CEO has confirmed that the airline plans to retire their Airbus A380 fleet.

“We are cognizant of the challenges to sell this aeroplane, but we are still looking at ways and means to dispose of our 380 fleet. At the moment, the management is convinced that the 380 doesn’t fit the future plan” said Izham Ismail, Malaysia Airlines CEO.

Malaysia Airlines took delivery of their first of 6 A380’s in 2012, the last of which arrived in 2013 and was the 100th A380 produced. Malaysia Airlines A380 features 8 First Class Suites (later re-branded as Business Suite), 66 Business Class angle flat seats and 420 Economy Class seats, spread across both decks.

Since the arrival of A350 into the Malaysia Airlines fleet, the smaller twin Airbus has been slowly replacing the A380 between London and Kuala Lumpur; this has left the A380 doing adhoc high demand flights to Seoul, Tokyo, Madinah and Jeddah.

The pandemic has caused the acceleration of Airbus A380 retirements. Air France, Etihad Airways, Lufthansa, Qatar Airways and Thai Airways are all planning to retire their A380 fleets.

“There is no future for the A380. It was the wrong airplane at the wrong time. It is something that passengers love, many liked to travel on the A380. It’s very quiet and it’s very spacious, but at the end of the day, for the operator, it’s really painful to keep them in the skies. The operating costs are punishing and so are the maintenance costs, an A380 at C check is three times the cost of that of a B777 or an A350-1000.”