Emirates has completed the first of 15 cabin refurbishment and reconfigurations scheduled for the two-class A380 aircraft in its fleet. A key element of the retrofit work was the installation of a premium economy cabin in the upper deck of the A380, in a 2-3-2 configuration.
Features of the reclining leather seats in the new premium economy cabin include full leg and footrests, six-way adjustable headrests, in-seat charging ports, side cocktail tables, and a 13.3-inch seatback IFE displays.
The 15 A380s earmarked for the cabin retrofits are being converted from a high-density, two-class configuration with 615 seats (58 in business class on the upper deck, and 557 economy seats split across the lower and upper decks).
The refurbished aircraft will have three cabin classes, with 76 seats in business class, 56 in premium economy, and 437 in economy Class seats.
The entire cabin interiors are taken apart during the retrofits, then refreshed and refitted. Perhaps the most challenging part of the task lies in the upper deck of the A380, in which 120 economy-class seats are removed to accommodate the 56 premium-economy seats and an additional 18 business-class seats
The Emirates Engineering team has to carry out extensive modifications to support this change in configuration, including structural work to remove, upgrade and reposition galley modules, stowage areas, overhead bins, partitions and other cabin features, along with associated changes to the electrical and plumbing systems.
The work also entails upgrading all cabins, including installing the latest generation seats and fresh cabin finishings such as new carpets and ceiling panels, updated colour palettes, and premium wood finishes.
The first retrofit, to A6-EUX, took two months to complete, including planning and testing stages. A team of 50 engineers and technicians invested around 35,000 man-hours in the project and fitted more than 2,500 different types of parts. The following 14 A380 retrofits will be quicker to complete though, as learnings from the first aircraft are being integrated into the team’s processes.
Emirates expects that the remaining two-class A380s retrofits will take around half the time, at 30 days. By the end of 2026, all 15 two-class A380 aircraft in the Emirates fleet are due to be retrofitted.
