International carrier Emirates has revealed that it plans to launch its newly retrofitted A380s featuring its latest Premium Economy cabins in five new cities from December.
New York JFK, San Francisco, Melbourne, Auckland and Singapore are where the newly retrofitted A380s will debut.
The airline also said it would add more Premium Economy seats on services to London Heathrow and Sydney, as its newly enhanced aircraft sporting refreshed cabins roll into scheduled service.
According to Emirates, it aims to offer customers more opportunities to experience its highly acclaimed Premium Economy product, and its latest deployment plans will also see 85 A380s back in the sky by December, just in time for year-end travel.
“With travel demand the strongest it’s been in more than two years, Emirates will provide customers more choice and a better experience as it ramps up A380 services to 42 destinations by the end of March 2023,” said Emirates.
It said the announcement comes as it is optimising its network to meet robust demand and enhancing its existing schedules to over 400 A380 departures from Dubai, offering 460 000 weekly A380 seats by March 2023, including 81 000 seats across its premium cabins, offering the very best in customer comfort.
“With an expanded list of cities, Emirates will have recovered 75% of its pre-pandemic A380 network. The airline is also adding frequencies to popular cities already served by its flagship, bringing greater resiliency and stability to its operation,” said the airline.
The Dubai-based carrier revealed that since launching its Premium Economy Class to London, Paris and Sydney, customer response has been overwhelmingly positive with demand exceeding expectations, demonstrating its appeal and the willingness of travellers to trade-up and try the quiet luxury and meticulously customised experience it offers.
“Customers travelling in First and Business Class cabins can enjoy the aircraft’s signature features such as the popular Onboard Lounge and fully flat seats in Business Class, as well as private suites and Shower Spas in First Class,” said Emirates.
According to the airline, starting from November, it will begin intensive work to upgrade and retrofit the interior cabins of 67 Airbus A380 and 53 Boeing 777 aircraft, with one aircraft rolling out into service every 16 days.
It said that by 2025, nearly 4 000 new Premium Economy seats will be installed, 728 First Class suites refurbished and over 5 000 Business Class seats upgraded to a new style and design.