Emirates Airlines Airbus A380

Airbus A380

Emirates announced an order in April 2000 as the first launch customer for the Airbus A3XX (later named Airbus A380), the largest civil aircraft ever built. The deal comprised of five Airbus A380-800s and two Airbus A380-800Fs. The deal was confirmed on 4 November 2001, and Emirates announced orders for 15 more A380-800s at the same time. Two years later Emirates again placed an order, this time for 21 A380-800s. In April 2006, Emirates ordered two more A380-800s, and cancelled their two orders for the freighter variant. In 2007, Emirates ordered 15 A380-800s, bringing the total number ordered to 58.[46] Emirates justified its order saying that purchasing the 481- to 656-passenger Superjumbo was to maximize its use of scarce takeoff and landing slots at crowded airports such as London Heathrow.

In November 2005, the first A380-800 in full Emirates livery was flown to Dubai, where it was displayed at Dubai Airshow 2005.[47] On 20 November 2005, Emirates ordered 42 Boeing 777s, to help with its expansion. This order came one day after Airbus announced that the A380-800 Superjumbo would be delayed by another six months.[48] A third delay was announced on 3 October 2006, pushing the initial delivery of the first A380-800 to October 2007.[49] The announcement was met with anger by Emirates' President Tim Clark, who threatened to cancel their Airbus order as it was affecting the airline's expansion plan, saying that "It's very serious. This will do us serious damage."[50] In total as of April 2008, Airbus paid as much as $110 million during 2007 in compensation for the late delivery of the A380-800 to Emirates for the delays.[51] During the same year, on 1 August, Emirates flew its first A380-800 flight, with 489 passengers, from Dubai to New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport.

In February 2009, Emirates raised many issues concerning its A380.[54][55] Emirates gave a 46-page presentation in Toulouse, informing Airbus officials about heat-damaged power cables, defective engines and numerous malfunctions, many reportedly caused by the two showers installed in the aircraft.[56][57][57][58][59]

On 8 June 2010, at the Berlin Air Show, Emirates ordered an additional 32 A380s worth US$11.5 billion. The deal was the biggest single order for the world’s largest passenger aircraft.[60][61] This latest order, added to the 58 A380s previously ordered, brings the total to 90.[62] Emirates expects all 90 superjumbos to be delivered by 2017. None of the additional 32 jets are intended to replace existing A380s; although Emirates received its first A380 in 2008, it does not expect to retire these early airframes before 2020.[63] Later in June 2010, Tim Clark, the president of Emirates, hinted at further orders for A380s.[64]

Emirates aims to operate over 120 Airbus A380s when new airport space is available. The target implies a future Emirates order for 30 of the world's largest airliner, worth US$10 billion at list prices, at an unspecified date. If the airline went ahead with its growth plans it would have an A380 fleet worth over US$40 billion.