Emirates refurbished 100 aircraft in 44 months under its USD 5 bn retrofit programme

Since November 2022, has delivered complete makeover across 47 A380s and 53 Boeing 777. Over half of the 219 aircraft slated for retrofit will be complete by December 2026

Emirates has reached a landmark 100 aircraft refurbished under its retrofit programme. Since work began in November 2022, 47 Airbus A380s and 53 Boeing 777s have been given a complete makeover at the Emirates Engineering hangars in Dubai. By the end of December 2026, around 20 additional aircraft will be upgraded, moving the airline significantly past the halfway point in its USD 5 billion investment aimed at delivering a consistently elevated experience to customers.

Over a period of 44 months, the Emirates Engineering team has deployed more than 400 engineers and technicians, transformed 100 aircraft and delivered an upgrade across the cabin interiors of all the aircraft.

All the aircraft were also fitted out with a new Premium Economy Cabin during the retrofit. More than 3,800 new Premium Economy seats have been installed in total as part of the initiative.

Sir Tim Clark, President of Emirates Airline, said, “Our commitment to deliver best-in-class products across every cabin is an ongoing endeavour, and completing full cabin retrofits for 100 wide-body aircraft in 44 months is a significant achievement. Backed by a USD 5 billion investment, it ensures our customers 'fly better,' with elevated luxury, comfort, and thoughtful detail throughout each cabin. Executing a project of this magnitude and complexity entirely in-house has also required unmatched planning, precision, craftsmanship and technical capabilities here in Dubai. Our team has completely rewritten the rulebook on retrofitting the two largest passenger aircraft in commercial aviation to make sure that every aircraft returns to the skies on schedule and in impeccable shape.”

The team has retrofitted an average of 28 aircraft a year since the commencement of the project. As part of every retrofit, engineers completely take apart the interiors of the aircraft, execute a thorough refresh across all cabins armed with 4000+ parts for an A380 aircraft and 2500+ parts for a Boeing 777 aircraft and then put everything back together with precision.