Emirates Doesn’t Expect Any New Aircraft Deliveries Next Year

Emirates has revealed that it doesn’t expect any new aircraft to arrive at the airline until at least 2024. The Middle-Eastern carrier has 200 aircraft on order, including the Boeing 777X, Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and Airbus A350-900. Let’s take a closer at Emirates’ fleet plans below.

No aircraft deliveries until 2024

In its latest financial results, Emirates claims it will not induct any new aircraft for at least a year following a record-breaking half-year performance. Despite a large order book of 200 aircraft in the wings, ongoing delays with the Boeing 777X’s development and Boeing 787 Dreamliner delivery setbacks mean we won’t see any new planes arrive at Emirates until 2024.

While Boeing has now resumed Dreamliner deliveries, Emirates boss Tim Clark wants Boeing to prioritize the 777X, adding that the airline would be happy to scrap its 787-9 Dreamliner order if it meant getting its hands on the 777X sooner.

Photo: Getty Images

Emirates has the following aircraft on order:

• 115 Boeing 777Xs
• 50 Airbus A350-900s
• 30 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners

As Simple Flying reported this week, Emirates also announced a firm order for five more Boeing 777 freighters after inducting two 777Fs into its fleet this year. These two freighters are the only aircraft Emirates has welcomed within the past six months. Emirates added that its entire Boeing 777 fleet was back in service by September 30th, while the airline had returned 73 of its 119 Airbus A380s to action at this point.

Fleet retrofitting

Emirates’ mass retrofitting program officially began on November 1st with its first Airbus A380 premium economy refit taking place at the Emirates Engineering Center in Dubai. The ambitious program, the largest of its kind in modern commercial aviation, will see 120 aircraft in the Emirates fleet undergo a cabin revamp at a rate of around four planes per month.

Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

Emirates said,

“With new passenger aircraft only expected to arrive in 2024, Emirates this month began its multi-billion dollar programme to retrofit 120 aircraft with its latest cabin interiors and products. Emirates continued to introduce new product and customer initiatives to deliver on its ‘fly better’ promise, including enhanced menus across all cabin classes, and the launch of a new hospitality programme to uplift service training and delivery.”

A total of 67 Airbus A380s and 53 Boeing 777s will be furnished with Emirates’ latest cabin interior, with all 120 aircraft expected to be ready by early 2025.

Premium economy success

Emirates launched its much-awaited premium economy product in August to great acclaim, noting a “booked-out” customer response for its services to London, Paris and Sydney. The Dubai carrier plans to introduce premium economy seats on 5 more routes before the end of FY2022-23 as more of its fleet roll out the retrofitting facility.

Photo: Emirates

The past six months have been excellent for Emirates following record half-year net profits – the carrier more-than-tripled its passenger count compared to 2021 with 20 million passengers served between April 1st and September 30th and raked in net profits of around $1.2 billion.

Have you had the chance to enjoy Emirates’ new premium economy product? How did you find the experience? Let us know your stories in the comments.