(18 August 2022, 11:13 +07)
Emirates' plan to upgrade the interior cabins of
120 Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 aircraft is scheduled to begin in
November and is expected to take 898 days to complete.
This ambitious project, representing a
multi-billion dollar investment, is being managed entirely by
Emirates Engineering team.
The target is to completely retrofit four Emirates
aircraft from start to finish every month, continuously for over 2
years. Once the 67 earmarked A380s are refreshed and back in
service, 53 777s will undergo their facelift.
The work will see nearly
4,000 brand new Premium Economy seats installed, 728 First Class
suites refurbished and over 5,000 Business Class seats upgraded to
a new style and design when the project is complete in April 2025.
Emirates believes the retrofit project will take 898 days to complete.
In addition, carpets and stairs will be upgraded,
and cabin interior panels refreshed with new tones and design
motifs including the iconic ghaf trees which are native to the
UAE.
As theres no blueprint for such a massive
undertaking, Emirates' Engineering team has been
planning and testing extensively, to establish and streamline
processes, and identify and address any possible snags.
Trials began on an A380 in July, where experienced
engineers literally took each cabin apart piece-by-piece and
logged every step. From removing seats and panelling to bolts and
screws, every action was tested, timed and mapped out.
Potential
impediments to completing the installation of Emirates new
Premium Economy Class or the retrofit of the remaining three
cabins in just 16 days were flagged and documented for expert
teams to review and address.
As part of the programme, new purpose-built
workshops will be set up at Emirates Engineering to repaint,
re-trim and re-upholster Business and Economy Class seats with new
covers and cushioning.
First Class suites will be
disassembled and sent to a specialised company to replace the
leather, arm rests and other materials.
From the trials, engineers discovered several
unexpected solutions. For example, existing food catering trucks
could be easily repurposed to move parts destined for
refurbishment from the aircraft to the workshop for their refresh.
Until the retrofit programme starts in earnest in
November, a cross-disciplinary team has been assembled to
regularly review the planning process, address any issues, and
track updates on various aspects of the project such as
procurement, staffing and training.
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