Emirates (Dubai) and Airbus (Toulouse and Hamburg) are celebrating the delivery of the 50th A380 for the airline. Airbus A380-861 A6-EEX (msn 154) was handed over on July 9. The airline issued this statement:

A major milestone for the A380 program, Emirates and Airbus celebrated in Hamburg, Germany the delivery of the 50th A380 for the Dubai-based airline. It is the 136th A380 which has been delivered in total.

Sir Tim Clark, President of Emirates Airline said: “Emirates has seen tremendous organic growth in the past 4 years, probably the fastest of any airline in history. We’ve literally added capacity equivalent to what some mid-sized airlines operate, but more significantly, we have maintained high seat loads and profitability. This speaks to the strength of our world-class product, and also our business model which is based on an efficient global hub that connects Dubai to the world, and almost any two cities in the world via Dubai.”

He added: “The A380 has been very successful for us, and this is reflected in the strong customer interest and high seat factors wherever we’ve deployed the aircraft. The A380 has helped us serve customer demand on trunk routes, operate more efficiently at slot-constrained airports, and also introduce new concepts on-board that have redefined the flying experience. Moving forward, we will see quite a ramp up in the delivery program and by late 2017 we will have around 90 A380s in our fleet to support existing and new A380 routes.”

Following delivery of their first A380 in July 2008, Emirates took delivery of their 25th A380 in October 2012. All Emirates’ A380s are powered by Engine Alliance GP7200 engines. The airline has 140 A380 on order.

For the ferry flight from Hamburg to Dubai, the aircraft was loaded with 41 tons of relief goods. This is the biggest amount which has ever been transported on a single flight organized by the Airbus Corporate Foundation. The goods will be deployed in cooperation with ACF (Action Contre la Faim) to a UN Humanitarian Response Depot in Dubai.

The total A380 fleet has accumulated over 1.4 million flight hours in more than 172,000 commercial flights. To date over 60 million passengers have already enjoyed the unique experience of flying on board an A380. Every four minutes, an A380 either takes off or lands at one of the 37 airports where it operates today and the network is constantly growing.

Top Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Part of the fleet, Airbus A380-861 A6-EDH (msn 025) arrives in Beijing. Bottom: Emirates.

Emirates: