Emirates completes Boeing refurb ahead of schedule

Emirates has completed a $US150m refurbishment of 10 Boeing 777-200LRs three months ahead of schedule. The B777-200LR project saw the 10 planes converted from three classes to two cabins and the introduction of wider business class seats in a 2-2-2 format. The airline also refreshed its economy class. The first reconfigured aircraft rolled out for commercial service in March, 2018. It took an average of 35 days to reconfigure an aircraft and the total project, executed in-house at Emirates Engineering, involved more than 160,000 man hours. The engineering team worked with 30 suppliers and handled more than 2,700 spare parts at any one time. Destinations served by the long-range planes include Adelaide, Santiago, Sao Paulo and Fort Lauderdale. The end of the refurbishment comes as the Dubai-based carrier is poised to wave goodbye to its last Boeing 777-300. READ: Emirates inks codeshare deal with SpiceJet. The airline has already taken one of its last two Boeing 777-300s, A6-EMV, out of service and is due to retire the other, A6-EMX, shortly. Both were delivered in 2003 and their departure means the Dubai carrier’s Boeing fleet is now made up of 777-300ERs and the 200-LRs. Emirates’ fleet renewal programme for 2019 includes retiring a total of seven older Boeing 777 aircraft and taking delivery of six new Airbus A380s. A move by the airline in February to reduce the number of A380s it plans to take heralded the end of the superjumbo program. It swapped its remaining commitments for 40 A330-900 aircraft and 30 A350-900s. The 14 additional superjumbos Emirates agreed to take until the end of 2021 brought its total A380 order book to 123 units. Emirates flights into Dubai are temporarily reduced at present due to the closure of Dubai International Airport’s southern runway until May 30. The airline said the closure would result in 48 aircraft not being utilized and a 25 percent reduction in flights over the 45-day period.