Emirates to take delivery of first A380 tomorrow

The delivery of the first flagship Airbus A380, will take place tomorrow in the presence of Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Civil Aviation and President of Emirates Group, the largest client for the world’s biggest commercial aircraft built to date.

The superjumbo will take off from Hamburg airport tomorrow after being officially handed over to Emirates officials and will fly to Dubai International Airport for its formal delivery in the presence of senior management and officials of the airline. 

On August 1, the airline will launch A380 flights between Dubai airport and New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport.

Emirates has also announced plans to showcase the double-decker Airbus A380 during the familiarisation flights in San Francisco and Los Angeles, scheduled for August 4 out of San Francisco International Airport.

Invited guests will have an opportunity to tour the aircraft, which features 489 seats in a three-class configuration (14 first class, 76 business and 399 economy). The following day, residents of Los Angeles will have an opportunity to see the A380 at the Flight Path Museum at Imperial Terminal at LAX.

Powered by American aircraft engine manufacturer Engine Alliance’s GP7200 engines, Emirates’ A380s can fly 11,999 kilometres on a full load, has 13 tonnes of bellyhold capacity for cargo and offers better fuel economy.

The date of 28 July, 2008, will also be a historical day for Hamburg, where 12,000 employees contributed over the past 10 years to the construction and interior fittings the superjumbo.

Commenting on the significance of the upcoming delivery for the Hamburg Metropolitan Area, Axel Gedaschko, Minister for Economic and Labour Affairs of the Federal German State of Hamburg, said: “With the new millennium and the decision to significantly involve the Hamburg Metropolitan Area in the construction of the world’s currently largest commercial airliner, Hamburg’s boom as a successful location for aviation started. Thousands of employees at Airbus and suppliers in the Hamburg Metropolitan Area worked had to produce the partly extra-large parts for the giant bird just in time, to outfit them and to customise the cabin interior according to the airlines’ needs. Thereby, Hamburg once again underlined its leading role as a centre of competence for cabin interiors.”

The Metropolitan region of Hamburg is one of the fastest-growing commercial and trade centres in Europe and, along with Seattle in the US and Toulouse in France, one of the world’s leading centres for civil aviation. A 36,000-strong workforce is employed in Hamburg’s aviation industry.

The number

489: Seats in a three-class configuration  in the A380, which can fly 11,999km on full load