It’s an exciting time for Emirates, as the Dubai-based carrier has just taken delivery of its very first Airbus A350-900. The airline has 65 of these jets on order, and it’s the first new aircraft type Emirates has taken delivery of since 2008. There’s now an update, as the airline has moved forward the inaugural flight for the aircraft, given the increased certainty with the timeline.
In this post:
Emirates Airbus A350 routes & flights
Given that Emirates has now taken delivery of its first A350, the airline has updated its schedule to reflect when the plane should enter service. While the first A350 has now landed in Dubai, it won’t enter commercial service for the next several weeks.
Emirates intends to fly its Airbus A350 between Dubai (DXB) and the following airports as of the following dates:
- Edinburgh (EDI) as of January 3, 2025
- Ahmedabad (AMD) as of February 1, 2025
- Bahrain (BAH) as of February 1, 2025
- Kuwait City (KWI) as of February 1, 2025
- Mumbai (BOM) as of February 1, 2025
- Colombo (CMB) as of March 1, 2025
- Lyon (LYS) as of March 1, 2025
- Muscat (MCT) as of March 1, 2025
- Bologna (BLQ) as of March 15, 2025
For context, Emirates experienced significant delays with getting the A350 into service. The airline was initially supposed to take delivery of its first A350 around the middle of 2023, so there has been a roughly 18-month delay.
Several months back, the airline was expecting the A350 inaugural to be on September 15, 2024, but that timeline was delayed multiple times, due to delivery delays. It’s not entirely clear if those delays had to do with the aircraft as such, of the installation of new cabins.
Why should Emirates passengers care about the A350?
Aside from us aviation geeks, why should Emirates passengers care about the A350? Well, the way I see it, there are some pros and cons to flying on this jet, compared to other Emirates aircraft.
On the plus side:
- The A350 is a pleasure to fly in general, as the aircraft is quiet, and has a modern cabin
- Emirates will have high speed Wi-Fi on the A350, which is the first time that Emirates will actually offer decent Wi-Fi speeds
- Emirates will offer premium economy on all A350s, while that’s a cabin that’s not yet available on many 777s and A380s (though Emirates is retrofitting many aircraft with this cabin)
- Emirates will offer a business class product with direct aisle access on the A350, though the airline hasn’t yet revealed what this seat will be; I suspect it’s the same as Emirates’ new 777 business class
There are also some downsides to the A350, though:
- Emirates’ initial batch of A350s don’t have first class, unlike a vast majority of the rest of Emirates’ fleet
- The A350 doesn’t have some of the amenities you’ll find on the A380, like an onboard bar
Bottom line
Emirates has just taken delivery of its first Airbus A350, and the airline intends to operate its inaugural passenger flight with the jet on January 3, 2025. It’s exciting to see Emirates finally taking delivery of a new aircraft type.
The plane should have Emirates’ most modern cabins, including a new business class, a premium economy cabin, and even fast Wi-Fi. I’m looking forward to flying this aircraft, given what a pleasure the A350 is to fly in general. Admittedly this won’t quite be the Emirates A380 in terms of space and size.
What do you make of Emirates’ A350 entry into service plans?
It seems like the Emirates A350s also feature their 777s' updated seats, as shown on Sheikh Mohammed's tour of the first Emirates A350.
https://gulfnews.com/business/aviation/in-pictures-sheikh-mohammed-tours-emirates-first-airbus-a350-1.1732688058428
Have you considered getting on one of those first flights?! Maybe you should get on the first flights when an airline introduces a new type! Plenty to choose from in the pipeline in the next few years: Korean, EVA, Qantas etc.
Getting on the first flight is something TPG does. Its amazing how many credit card referral links the can include in an article that is supposed to be a flight review.