Emirates plans to fly its A380 fleet for winter 2022
In these pandemic months we have seen entire fleets of jumbos retire, and the A380 along with the 747 have been the [...]
Emirates
DXB
In these pandemic months, we have seen entire fleets of jumbos retire, and the A380 along with the 747 have been the airlines' favorite victims, sacrificed on the altar of cost-cutting at the expense of models with less onerous operating and maintenance costs.
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If Air France has retired definitely its A380s, KLM has shipped to the desert the 747/400 e British Airways has eliminated both models from its fleet, there are those who have continued to focus on using the world's largest passenger aircraft. Examples include Singapore Airlines, which recently announced that it will refurbish the interiors of all A380s in operation, and Emirates, of course, which has half of its fleet made up of from this model.
Emirates in recent months has resumed flying mainly with the Boeing 777, but has also slowly reactivated the fleet and crews of the iconic double-decker aircraft. It recently announced increased routes to England, the Emirates airline's main market.
In an interview with Bloomberg TV. Tim Clark, the president of Emirates, outlined his expectations for the recovery of passenger traffic and the ways in which travel will return to the post-pandemic world.
"I foresee a recovery in Europe and the U.S.," Clark explained, "by the summer of next year when vaccine distribution in these markets is in full swing. If all goes well, our entire A380 fleet will be back in the air by the winter of 2022."
The company's number one, who is also the man who actually created Emirates as we know it today, also spoke on the recent decision to Qantas to openly state the need to be vaccinated to be able to board kangaroo planes: "I think it is still too early to make such a decision, and the reason is simple: it will be the nations that will determine the requirements for being able to let passengers in, so the decision should not even be made by the carriers, but by the governments of the individual states. I hope that in this case, too, there will be a common choice at the government level."
The end of 2020 will also mark big news for Emirates with the adoption of the first planes equipped with premium economy: "We will receive our first A380 equipped with this class of travel in December, of course we will have to wait until we have this configuration on many of our planes before we know whether our customers will like it," Clark concludes.
For all A380 lovers, the statement by the company's CEO lights a ray of hope: "This model is our flagship aircraft and will remain so in the future, it is the one that makes us recognized, where we offer our best product, and it will fly with us for a long time to come."
