Emirates & A350 – What’s the Big Deal?

It has been a roller coaster of emotions in Emirates’ (EK) offices from the beginning of this week. Something exciting was happening in the history of the airline. After quite a long wait, we were getting the delivery of our first A350 aircraft. It was in February 2019, the order for these aircrafts were placed.

It was not just that. The very fact that we are seeing a new aircraft type joining our fleet since 2008 gave us goose bumps. For the last sixteen years, we have been flying A380s and B777s for scheduled passenger operations. The elation is so much so that it feels like you are welcoming a cute little daughter to the family after a long time of being blessed with two sons!

The pertinent question now is, why is this a big deal for Emirates?

We’ve seen enough and more on the media that A350 is one of the most fuel-efficient aircrafts in the world of large sized aircrafts known as wide body. It is also one of the aircraft types which can be deployed on longer duration sectors better known as long haul flights in aviation industry. This simply means Emirates can deploy the new A350s where we currently operate the other aircrafts types and achieve better efficiency in operations. A win-win for both environment and organization.

Multiple advanced features come with a brand-new aircraft such as A350, some of which are tailor made for Emirates. These include, but are not limited to, a much faster Wi-Fi on board, even better Inflight Entertainment (IFE) system, quieter cabin and what not.

While all these and more are awesome additions to an already fantastic customer experience there are more to what meets the eye.

As soon as the contract was signed between Airbus and Emirates, preparations got underway in various departments of the airline to be ready for the D-day. On 03 January 2025, the first A350 scheduled flight of Emirates will take off from Dubai to Edinburgh which will be a new era in the history of one of the biggest success stories in aviation in the world. Here is a glimpse of a few things that happened behind the scenes as a run-up to this very special day:

ü  Training plans were charted for thousands of flight crew and cabin crew to ensure smooth operations of the A350.

ü  Current routes operated by Emirates reviewed with an intention to introduce this more efficient aircraft.

ü  Route planning for future also influenced with the new metal bird that is now part of the EK fleet.

ü  Having a brand-new aircraft type adds to the competitiveness of Emirates and combined with the award-winning in-flight products the competitors will be required to sit and take a good look at the latest entrant to the market.

ü  The entire ground handling operations were reviewed, staff trained and prepared to service and support the new A350. It was a massive initiative.

ü  With new aircrafts joining the fleet, Emirates will now be able to add new routes as well as expand the current routes much to the delight of the customers who would love to fly better on EK. This directly will have a positive impact on the revenue on the long run.

ü  Thousands of IT Products across the technology landscape of The Emirates Group will need to be updated to cater to the new member of the family, A350.

The list can go on. Nevertheless, let me summarize and say that we now have a shining new bird in our skies to look up to, with a promise to our customers, to offer them the joy of flying and they should feel nothing but sheer delight with their choice!