Emirates to receive its 100th A380 aircraft in November

Dubai airline Emirates is set to receive its 100th Airbus A380 aircraft on November 3, it announced on Wednesday.

The airline is the world’s largest A380 operator, having received its first jumbo jet in 2008.

According to Airbus’ latest statistics (September 2017), Emirates has ordered a total of 142 A380 jets, of which 98 have been delivered and are presently in operation.

Currently, Emirates flies the A380 to over 45 destinations worldwide, and has flown 80 million passengers on the jet in the nine years since it was deployed.

The carrier also operates the world’s longest A380 flight – a non-stop Dubai-Auckland service introduced in March 2016.

Sir Tim Clark, president of Emirates Airline said: “The A380 has been, and continues to be hugely popular amongst our customers, many of whom deliberately plan their travel so that they can fly on it.”

Some of the key aspects of Emirates’ A380 include its onboard lounge and the first class shower spa.

In July, the airline also revealed a revamp of the lounge, designed to resemble private yacht cabins. With the capacity to seat 26 people, the lounge now also features a larger 55 inch LCD screen.

Read more: Emirates deploys first A380 with revamped onboard lounge

In the last nine years, Emirates has also made several modifications to the aircraft including the addition of in-seat USB and HDMI ports and bigger cabin overhauls. It has also invested close to $1bn on hardware to improve its inflight entertainment system – ice, while also increasing the in-seat screen size across all classes.

The entire A380 fleet has also been fitted with connectivity to allow for free 20MB of wifi throughout the cabin.

Emirates also introduced the world’s first two-class configured A380 in November 2015, making it the highest-capacity plane in the world with 615 seats on board.

On the ground, the carrier operates an A380-dedicated airport concourse in Dubai with 20 gates as well as engineering centres which include six heavy maintenance hangars, paint shops, and the capability to completely overhaul an A380.