General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Defence Minister, yesterday inspected Emirates' recently delivered Airbus A340-500 at its hangar in Dubai International Airport.
Escorted by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation and Chairman of Emirates Group, Sheikh Mohammed made his visit less than 24 hours after the A340 arrived from France on Friday.
The delivery makes Emirates the world's first airline to operate the new ultra-long range Airbus, the first of eight it has ordered. It can fly non-stop for more than 17 hours. The aircraft features private suites with massage chairs in place of the standard First Class seats, and more than 500 channels of in-flight movies, music and games.
Sheikh Mohammed and Sheikh Ahmed went on board to view the flight deck and the still unfinished passenger cabin. The aircraft can fly between any two points in the world with just a single stop.
Emirates engineers are now putting final touches to the seating - 12 First, 42 Business and 204 Economy class. Intensive pilot training will also take place before the A340 leaves on December 1 on its first non-stop commercial service to Sydney.
Powered by four Rolls-Royce Trent 500 engines, it will conduct non-stop flights to Sydney and Melbourne and, from next year, North America.
"At a stroke, this makes journeys shorter, more convenient and more comfortable for our passengers, and to complement this we are transforming our onboard service - in all three classes," said Maurice Flanagan, Emirates vice-chairman and group president.
"This remarkable aircraft will also set a new benchmark in air travel and offer our customers new standards of comfort, and we are proud to be the world's first airline to introduce it to our fleet."
The new A340-500s spearhead Emirates' $26 billion order book which includes 26 Boeing 777-300 Extended Range aircraft, 20 A340-600s, eight Airbus A340-300s and eight freighters. More than 100 new jets will be delivered to Emirates by 2012.
From April 2005 it will add one new aircraft every month for the subsequent seven years.
Gulf News
