The world’s largest passenger plane has taken to the skies with a new look.
Emirates' first retrofitted A380 entered service on Friday, departing Dubai for London Heathrow.
The jet has undergone weeks of round-the-clock work as engineers and technicians took apart and refitted its entire interior piece by piece.
Flight number EK003 is the first of 120 aircraft being refitted as part of Emirates' multibillion-dollar retrofit programme, the largest of its kind in aviation history.
The double-decker jet's fully refreshed interior now has four classes of cabin, including premium economy, which features wider seats and more legroom than economy.
Sleek cabins in first and business class sport Emirates' latest cream-coloured leather seats, while light wood finishing and carpets and stairs have been upgraded. Hand-stencilled panels featuring ghaf trees — which are native to the UAE — have been added to the first-class shower spa.
Registered A6-EVM, the aircraft is expected to land in the UK at 6.20pm local time on Friday.
“Customers will notice the difference the moment they step on board — the spacious A380 will look and feel even more impressive and comfortable,” said Tim Clark, president of Emirates. "With our latest interiors and products, this newly refurbished aircraft elevates our in-flight experience in all classes of travel, and enables us to offer more premium economy seats to meet customer demand."
The refit was undertaken in Dubai at the airline’s state-of-the-art engineering centre.
“I’m particularly proud that this refurbishment work was designed, conducted and completed in-house at our facilities in Dubai, to the highest standards of quality and safety. It reflects the world-class aviation capabilities and infrastructure that exists within Emirates, and here in the UAE,” said Clark.
Next up for a makeover is aircraft registered A6-EUW, with work expected to be completed on the second plane by the end of January.
In numbers: 4,000 premium economy seats and 728 first-class suites
The airline's operation will result in nearly 4,000 premium economy seats installed, 728 first-class suites refreshed and more than 5,000 business class seats upgraded.
As work progresses, Emirates will withdraw an aircraft from its fleet every eight days as engineers work simultaneously on two aircraft. This will allow the airline to complete work on all 67 superjumbo jets in the retrofit programme by 2024.
Attention will then turn to 53 Emirates Boeing 777s that are also due to be retrofitted by April 2025.
To master the world's biggest retrofit programme, the airline recruited hundreds of new staff dedicated to the project.
Emirates previously planned to debut its first retrofitted A380 in December on a flight to New York. The airline said that supply chain delays affected that plan.
"Due to supply chain delays impacting our retrofit programme, plans for deployment of aircraft fitted with Emirates premium economy seats changed and new timelines for the cities that were initially scheduled to receive the aircraft will be communicated in due course," a representitive for the airline told The National.
"Customers have been provided with alternative options and we hope to bring our premium economy service and newly refreshed cabins to additional cities as more aircraft roll out of the retrofit programme.”
As travel demand is at its strongest since the global pandemic, Emirates continues to ramp up its A380 services with plans to deploy the world's largest passenger jet to 42 destinations by the end of March.
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
The view from The National
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Profile of Whizkey
Date founded: 04 November 2017
Founders: Abdulaziz AlBlooshi and Harsh Hirani
Based: Dubai, UAE
Number of employees: 10
Sector: AI, software
Cashflow: Dh2.5 Million
Funding stage: Series A
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Man of the match: Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
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Dir: Francis Lawrence
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Egerton, Charlotte Rampling, Jeremy Irons
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