Emirates Delays Airbus A350 Flights

It’s an exciting time for Emirates, as the Dubai-based carrier is shortly supposed to take delivery of its very first Airbus A350-900. However, unfortunately this plane’s entry into service has just been delayed…

Emirates delays Airbus A350 inaugural by weeks

Emirates has a total of 65 Airbus A350-900 aircraft on order. These planes are expected to be delivered as of this year. The carrier’s plan was to start taking delivery of this jet as of early in the third quarter, with the inaugural A350 flight planned for September 15, 2024, between Dubai (DXB) and Bahrain (BAH).

While there hasn’t been any official announcement, it seems clear that the airline is expecting some delays with these deliveries. Emirates has just quietly removed the A350 from the schedule for several weeks.

With the update, the first Emirates A350 route is scheduled for November 4, 2024, to Edinburgh (EDI). I wouldn’t count on that sticking, since I’d assume the airline would first operate regional routes to work out any kinks.

The next routes to feature the A350s are scheduled to be to both Bahrain (BAH) and Kuwait (KWI) as of November 15, 2024. I of course wouldn’t count on that sticking, and imagine this remains subject to change.

Is this an airplane delay or a seat delay?

If anything, I was a bit surprised when Emirates put its A350 inaugural flights on sale several weeks back, since I wondered if that timeline would stick. There are so many delays with new aircraft nowadays, and I find that more often than not, these kinds of first flights get pushed back. Emirates is usually good at managing expectations.

Now, I am curious what is causing this delay — is it the plane as such, or the cabins?

Airbus has been dealing with delivery delays for many aircraft types. The situation isn’t as bad as at Boeing, but still, airlines aren’t getting their planes as fast as they’re expecting. Emirates had already had significant delays with taking delivery of A350s, as the planes were first supposed to join Emirates’ fleet in 2023 (then again, it’s not nearly as bad as Emirates’ Boeing 777X situation).

However, I can’t help but wonder if the delay with the new A350s instead involves the cabins. Keep in mind that Emirates is planning on debuting new cabins on the Airbus A350 in partnership with Safran, including a brand new business class product.

Does the delay maybe relate to these new seats, rather than the planes as such? For example, that’s what Lufthansa is dealing with right now, as the carrier’s new Allegris cabins have been delivered way behind schedule, causing major issues for the airline.

While I can appreciate that Emirates isn’t announcing its new business class many years in advance (unlike some other airlines), I do find it a bit strange that the airline still hasn’t unveiled its cabins, weeks before the first plane is supposed to be delivered.

I was expecting that the airline would announce plans several weeks back at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, but that didn’t happen. The airline sure knows how to create anticipation.

Bottom line

Emirates has just canceled its Airbus A350 inaugural flight, and has seemingly pushed back its A350 schedule by well over a month, to November 2024. It’s unknown whether this delay is due to issues with getting the A350, or issues with getting the new interiors, which will represent a new standard for the airline. I wouldn’t be surprised if the delay relates to the latter rather than the former.

While I’m not particularly invested in Emirates flying the A350 as such, I am mighty curious what the new business class product will be like. Hopefully we find out sooner rather than later.

What do you make of Emirates’ A350 delays?