Hamburg: Emirates on Monday received its first Airbus A380 superjumbo at the aircraft manufacturer's new delivery facilities in Hamburg.
The ceremony marks the first delivery of the new model to Emirates which intends to deploy the first A380 on the New York (JFK) route.
This is the first delivery through the Hamburg facilities, named after the father of the A380 programme, Jurgen Thomas.
"Emirates has the largest order book of 58 planes for the Airbus A380, out of the total of 198 superjumbos ordered by 16 customers so far, accounting for about 30 per cent of the total," Tom Enders, Airbus President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) told an audience of more than 500 guests attending the ceremony.
The Emirates delegation that received the aircraft was headed by Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates airline and Group, who revealed the special configuration of the cabin which includes many new innovative and luxurious features, including a spa servicing the first class passengers.
"Our trade with Germany was worth about 6 billion euros last year, accounting for 90 per cent of our trade with Europe, and the airline is seeking now to launch new routes to the country's major cities including Berlin and Stuttgart," Shaikh Ahmad said.
"Our investments in the A380 are valued at 32 billion euros of which 12 billion euros are in Germany," he added.
Emirates has revealed its support to the A380 programme since the outset by signing a letter of intent to purchase 13 planes in the early days of the program back in 2000, to be the first order placed, and looking ahead Shaikh Ahmad has revealed the carrier's interest and support for the next generation of the A380-900.
"The new aircraft will be deployed to serve the New York (JFK) route as from August 1, to be followed by London, Sydney, and Auckland," Emirates chairman revealed. The configuration of emirates' first A380 include 489 seats; 14 first class, 76 business, and 399 economy.
Delivery schedule
According to Emirates' A380 delivery schedule, four more A380s will follow by April 2009, while the 12 superjumbos scheduled for April-May 2010 will be delayed three months to August-September to add up to the two-year delay already announced.
"The reasons of the delay are industrialisation questions due to the complexities associated with building the aircraft, which involves four million parts, 500 kilometres of wiring, in addition to the required customisation by Emirates," John J. Leahy, Airbus' Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Customers told Gulf News.
"Although we will deliver 12 planes this year and about twenty next year for all our customers, we intend to produce four planes a month, but it will take us about three years to get there," he added.
"Now it takes one month to produce a single aircraft, and towards 2009 and 2010 we will be ramping that up, and accordingly we revised the schedule for now to deliver 21 planes next year, which is a bit less than was announced earlier, but necessary," Enders explained.
Emirates has revealed its concern on several occasions for the effect of such delays on the carrier's growth plans, yet the company's president, Tim Clark, expressed his support for the manufacturer on account of the importance of receiving mature planes ready for service rather than facing problems later on.
"The important thing is that they are spending longer time on getting the job right, and we are right behind that [supporting, because we have a lot of people employed here for a long time to watch what they are doing, and they are doing it the right way," Clark told Gulf News.
By Ahmed A. Elewa
© Gulf News 2008
