A380 grounded in Dubai, weeks after launch

Thursday, 4 September 2008 5:14 PM

Emirates Airline's first A380 has been grounded just weeks after it was first launched, Arabian Business can reveal.

Scheduled engineering on the airline’s only operating A380 is taking longer than expected and has forced the airline to replace Friday’s scheduled flight of the super jumbo with a Boeing 777, the airline said on Thursday.

“The A380 was scheduled for a flight tomorrow. However, in place of the A380, we will be operating our Boeing 777-300ER to New York JFK, which also offers private suites in First Class and lie-flat seats in Business Class,” an Emirates spokesperson told Arabian Business.

“Our teams are working hard to minimise any inconvenience caused to our passengers. Our A380 will be deployed on commercial service again as soon as possible.”

The news is a further blow to the Dubai-based airline, which is by far the A380’s largest customer with 58 aircraft on order. Last week the airline announced delivery of its second A380 was delayed by several weeks.

Emirates received its first A380 on July 28, following a two-year delay from plane manufacturer Airbus.

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Posted by: John S Sunday, 7 September 2008 1:40 PM[UAE]

I can't understand what the fuss is all about! By their very good fortune, the economy passengers of this atrocious aircraft have been spared an agonising experience of travelling 17 hours cooped up in seats narrower & with less leg room than a small commuter aircraft, with no foot rests, no magazines?.nothing except maybe you?ll die of deep vein thrombosis as soon as you get off. Flying the Boeing 777 must have been comparatively, a huge blessing! So why A380?s? - simply because Emirates can cram more people into this flying cattle truck that they have the largest number of orders for this aircraft. It is just greed and not your comfort that matters most to the men that matter at Emirates ?. especially since they will be travelling in luxury having showers, massage beds and unlimited bar service ? all those nice things that Emirates / Airbus have been showing off to sell this fat, overgrown trash can! A word of advice to all readers?next time Emirates wants to put you on a A380 and you are not one of the privileged few in Business or First?.RUN!

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Posted by: Mohamed Saturday, 6 September 2008 6:20 PM[UAE] - Canada

This Super Jumbo has had problems from the beginning. I put the blame on the manufacturer, Airbus! I don't feel sorry for the New York passengers experience being delayed. They will have their day again, soon. They can afford it! I pray nothing happens to this huge bird when it is in the air full of innocent people.

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Posted by: Trevor Saturday, 6 September 2008 11:07 AM[UAE]

Perhaps if they had kept the magazines and footrests in economy instead......

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Posted by: hombil Saturday, 6 September 2008 8:49 AM[UAE] - Oman

Either Emirates were not fully prepared or Airbus did not brief Emirates about the scheduled engineering, resulting in the A380 being grounded. While it can be philosophically said that Emirates is gaining experience, it does not speak well for the airline or the airplane suppliers. Those passengers who booked their flight to NY specifically on A380 will be disappointed to miss out on the A380 experience. Similar facilities on 700-300ER does not replace the pleasure of flying A380. After all, people don't fly to NY every now and then!

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Posted by: skyobserver Friday, 5 September 2008 8:24 PM[UAE] - UK

Shower Burnout? Apparently, kiddies-and-armchairCEOs.net reports that the Emirates A380 experience has supposedly been grounded because some avionics were blown out by the shower heating system. 500 kg of water is never a good idea on an aircraft.

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