Emirates President Sir Tim Clark has revealed to Simple Flying that he has no visibility on when the airline’s last Airbus A380 will be delivered, a term he has previously used to describe the Boeing 777X. The Dubai-based carrier, and largest customer of the A380 had hoped to take its last of the giant aircraft this month.
The Airbus A380 has become an icon of the aviation industry, though poor sales led to Airbus discontinuing the program early. Despite this, the giant of the skies is set to fly for many years yet, as Emirates won’t be looking to retire a brand new aircraft.
No clarity on the final delivery
Emirates had originally been due to take delivery of its final Airbus A380 in 2022, though earlier this year it revealed that the last one would be delivered in November. We’ve since reported that the last delivery has been delayed.
Talking about the last delivery at a Dubai Airshow round table, Emirates President Sir Tim Clark commented that he currently has no clarity on when his last A380 delivery will occur. He told Simple Flying’s Joanna Bailey,
“These aircraft should have come to us in October then November. One is meant to be coming this month, the last one next month. Now the one coming this month has also been moved.”
Clark suggested that Emirates was eyeing December 16th for the delivery, but that this could be pushed back further. It is thought that the airline intends to make a song and dance about the aircraft’s delivery, though Clark indicated that the closer that we get to Christmas, the harder this will be.
The delivery truly will be one of a kind. There was obviously a huge celebration when the first Airbus A380 was delivered, and it seems as though Emirates wouldn’t want to not afford the end of the program the same privileges. The difficulty seems to be with the upcoming Christmas season, with Clark suggesting that anything after mid-December would be a conflict with the holiday.
Not the end yet
As mentioned, it’s not quite the end of the Airbus A380 program just yet. While Airbus has ended sales of the giant aircraft, it will continue to support them for the foreseeable future. After all, retiring a brand new jet is neither a good look for Airbus or Emirates.
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While Emirates recently scrapped its first Airbus A380, it’s still flying its younger aircraft. The airline is yet to confirm when it will phase out the giant of the skies, but the mid-2030s seems like the best guess as things currently stand.
Of course, Simple Flying will keep readers updated with any changes. While many passengers are truly interested in the cabin, the fact remains that most of the airline’s jets still lack premium economy, though this is set to change soon.
What do you make of Emirates’ Airbus A380 plans? Let us know what you think and why in the comments!
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