Emirates is undertaking a monumental task of upgrading its popular A380 fleet, a project known as Project Phoenix, which is the largest retrofit program in the industry. This ambitious undertaking involves refurbishing 67 A380s and 53 Boeing 777s, and the scale of the project is truly impressive. The upgrade includes replacing and refurbishing over 30,000 seats across first class, business class, premium economy, and economy, as well as reconfiguring the cabin layout to enhance passenger experience.
The upgrade program commenced in November 2022 and is anticipated to be completed by May 2025. During the maintenance process, the aircraft undergo a complete interior overhaul, including the removal and replacement of seats, lavatories, galleys, and other interior elements. Emirates Engineering ensures that the entire cabin is restored to a pristine condition, akin to a brand-new aircraft.
The video provides a unique behind-the-scenes look at the meticulous work being done at Emirates’ engineering facilities. Viewers are taken on a tour of a refurbished A380, witnessing the transformation from a stripped-down interior to a fully revamped cabin. Engineers showcase the installation process for new premium economy seats and demonstrate the meticulous work required to ensure uniform seating arrangements for passengers across the aircraft.
The attention to detail is evident as engineers meticulously measure and mark seating areas to ensure consistency and precision. In addition to the interior upgrade, the video also provides in-depth insights into the advanced technologies and equipment incorporated into the aircraft, such as automated electrical window shades and RFID-based inspection systems for emergency equipment.
Emirates’ commitment to maintaining the highest standards is highlighted through its proactive approach to cleaning and maintaining the aircraft. The video showcases maintenance activities, including the cleaning of seat covers and the replacement of worn-out components, ensuring that passengers experience a pristine and hygienic environment when traveling on Emirates A380s.
As the project progresses, Emirates aims to keep a substantial number of A380s in their fleet, with plans to have at least 90 A380s in operation by the 2030s. With a focus on providing a premium travel experience, Emirates is dedicated to serving its passengers with state-of-the-art facilities, cutting-edge technology, and unparalleled comfort, achieving new levels of luxury in air travel.
Watch the video by Sam Chui
Back at the emer’s workshop we’re going to see an a like you’ve never seen Before so like uh when you b a new car once we modify it we cover it up so if you look behind you it’s covered it’s covered here the aircraft leaves here pristine like a brand new car you get to unwrap it [Applause] so on board I found alas she’s a licensed aircraft engineer so as you can see this area before it used to be economy area now it is fitted with premium economy and we have the electro mechanical window shades as well before it was manual you just open it slide it
Up and down now it is electrical you can just press the button and it goes up and down so the question is how long it takes to get 56 premium economies all install okay let’s say today we have just loaded the seats right now so let’s
Say if we want to fully equip uh premium economy it will take around 6 days just 6 days everything will be install to days also with the electric curtain everything the ceiling panels the carpets over here how do engineer know ex precisely every seat has the same seat pitch to maintain so every
Passenger have the same leg room yeah so we we do we do Mark the area as you can see it is over here marked you measured yeah measured it and marked it and we do have a drawing to follow so there’s definitely no discrepancy some seats
Have more room some seats had less room it cannot go wrong go wrong this is how the stair looks like it’s quite a different to when you fly right look at the uh I would say the g trees on the two side this is where the
New 38 the old one didn’t have it so and they used to have the rail and this is now all in Bear stripped out you know you probably don’t recognize this is where the the ammer showering spa and this is where you’re getting shower at 39,000 ft and the whole rooms Chang when
Everything taken out so this if I remember right this was the wash basin right it is and you pamper your face with your cream it used to be a wash Bas so all of this look at the stuff behind all these electric cables this must be
The water pumps and this must be the filter down here exactly but I I’m I’m intricate about the showers but how the behind the scenes all the equipments work look there’s a water heater I believe in there like carry the Water this is the first class but you won’t recognize it hasn’t got the bling bling yet it’s the bare version of the first class I’m going to sit down and it’s still nice with a red cover on it so yes again we keep the cover for protection because there’s no costume
Right now you can see uh the new colors our new colors in Emer the white yes the lamination has totally changed you can even look at the leather if you if you would like to it gets fished oh it’s here yeah it’s the same as the trip 7
Game Changer the interior on the 38 look very cool even the outside sliding door yeah and I can see there’s no TV yet there’s a huge Hollow here the wood the wooden color has been Chang the wood color has Changed you probably won’t recognize this is the business class cabin but now it’s all cover in orange and red color cover and but in reality they’re going to have these uh mercedesbenz kind of inspire leather seats with a nice nice headrest yeah so it’s doing a complete
Makeover here where I’m standing is the reare and this is the rare B of the 380 and they told me be careful cuz you know that’s downstairs you’re going to fall if you go further down there yeah it’s something really different every day you don’t see this until they strip
Everything out this is the bare aircraft so what’s happening over here we have the structure team doing the seat track replacement upon the inspection of the seat track if we find any damage we get it replaced so that’s what’s happening uh first you do the seat track make sure
The track is uh okay I see you have the gys which comes over here and then you have four lates over here and then you get the bar in this area So it takes 46 days of work until they refurbish the wholeway for and now let’s go to see the finished Products so excited walking up the stairs hear all the sounds let go inside A8 this is an aircraft that we modified in April it’s been under hard work ever since it’s just come in this morning so it’s in work because we’re working to keep the same standard that this
Aircraft looked like since it left in April and right now we’re checking the Emergency Equipment using RFID so this is RFID what what does this scanner do so as he walks through the cabin it tells him all of the uh life vest Emergency Equipment and if it’s in dat
And if it’s going to be expired and within seconds rather than going under every seat to inspect but in seconds you’ll know exactly what sheap to pull the expired life vest ear and replace it you’ll scan it around so you know where all the equipments are and whether they’re expiring Yeah so we’re in the middle of this airplane turning around it just arrived we got on board they still doing cleaning maintenance before ready for the next flight right you can see the cushion covers has been removed and all the seat magazine and they’re still cleaning a lot of activities going
On I just saw the staff here is cleaning the seat cover that was the big question everyone asking a white letter seat beautiful but getting very dirty very quickly we do so we have a cleaning regime for them and the guys that’s what the guys are up to today they’re
Cleaning the the stitching and then at C check we replace them out so how often you clean the seats like whenever is required or what every 25 days we do a cabin check every 25 days so today we’re doing a we call a media uh content load
So that’s all of the next month’s movies and you know if you’re a frequent flyer you want to see movies and new TV shows and things next month that’s what this gentleman’s doing now it takes quite some time it’s a lot of content it’s gigs and gigs of data it’s going on now
So how long it takes to load you know all these thousands of movie into your IC around about four to 5 hours every single month four to 5 hours of load and then updating yes every month so those are all the faults raised by by the cabin crew so the cabin crew
Sent out report and then now the mechanic come on board fixing all the faults absolutely so the left hand side is all the faults and the right hand side is all the action that we’ve done so Parts replaced components removed and replaced with brand new ones and
Refurbished so that’s what we do what kind of trouble we have so far we’re doing today so things like the shrouds the screens the armrests that the recline works properly everything gets looked at so now let’s walk up the first class but you can see now the handles
Are back the G truck trees are painted the carpets are late this is completely now a change from what we saw the bear aircraft in the hanger earlier so here Back In First Class cabin but the uh seat has changed usually we see the gray
Color and this has been a looks like an update in the interior yeah it’s done some phas lifting or a good cosmetic change I would say Stills the same sweets but feels a little bit more Bright while touring the plane I’m holding a brand new pack of curtains John just told me look at the old curtain it’s got stained get replaced changing into new curtains so this is quite tedious you have so much parts and component every single part if the passenger put a stain
On it and you guys have to change it absolutely wow there a drop of coffee or a drop of red wine and whole whole set of Cups there’s a lot of things going going on normally passengers don’t get to see this is all behind the scenes servicing
An aircraft a lots of great staff do all the work here for all our passengers say hello to our camera hi yeah from Kenya all Kenyon [Applause] ladies Sam welcome to the onboard bar every time the aircraft comes in we cover it up to make sure that uh lovely
Marble tops stay pristine and ready for our customers to enjoy that’s right I knew that the flight attendant has to wrap all this WRA it up during the uh Landing phase of the flight and when the bars stop this is popular yeah very popular so this is the refurbished bar
With the new refurbished seats how many Emirates a really is getting a makeover like this new first class interior new business class fabric premium economy so in the end all of them will be refurbished but the first 60 will have the four class and uh which we call
Phase one and in phase two the rest of the aircraft if there are two class or they’re a different configuration they will all have the same look at the end so 16 right now is flying with the premium economy and order new layout 16 with the new layout that we have done
Here inh house and then there were another uh nine delivered by Airbus the last nine delivered by airb so 25 ah 25 with the new products yeah this airplane behind me the emis A380 they just announced it will fly until the mid 2040s that’s 20 more years
For all the passenger to enjoy the A80 wait that’s not the end of the video next we’ll visit the engineering Workshop to see how they test and inflate Emergency Equipment anybody likes to try One okay ready to P yeah it’s actually a very cool feeling inside or some cooling gel in there this is a CO2 gas which get inflated now so that’s why you feel it’s cold yeah and I feel I’m really stuck in there it’s going to keep your yeah how can I get
Out of here now there a here a needo here they’re going to show us in a few second to deploy the entire emergency safety slide just in a few second check this out if there is emergency and you would have to exit the aircraft you have
6 seconds which our slides have to be deployed here we go we just saw them deploy the slide in a few second the whole device was being you know completely ready to rescue and go get people out on the sea for 80 and 90 Passengers so we are visiting the seats Workshop here look at this aircraft A6 e Co uniform Lima they got all the business class seats lined up and you would not believe this is business class right this is the bare skeleton so this is when they put all the seat cushions
Covers new on it huge difference from start to completion I was watching the mechanics fixing the seats but I can’t stop laughing it’s like this is look like a dentist chair isn’t it this is the first class before and this is the first class after you will
Never believe you know how they turn from here to here this has been fully stripped down it’s been cleaned it’s been inspected all the parts replaced that need to be replaced to make it move and make it become a bed and flight and then we take off all the the premod
Covers and seat covers the the gray color and then it becomes a post Recon fig as we call it a phoenix seat and that’s what you see next to it there why the first and business class seats are so heavy because you have all these motors and or what we call actuators
That are used to manipulate the seat to give you that Comfort the exact spot that you want in flight or flat bed to sleep all that is weight and it’s mechanism and motorized uh uh parts to make it move never sat on nobody have ever sat on very tempting I’m very temped
Now so what happens to order the used seats covered covers and materials from the plane amer’s engineering is doing something creative here these are the OC cover and they removed it now here and in the workshop here we’ve just given a tour see how creative they are coming up
You know turning these seat covers into handbags into uh backpack into suitcases into souvenir and this one if you have been to the cockpits on the Boeing airplane you will recognize this is where the captain and first officer sits this is uh the seat cover in a caret
Seats yeah look at this with a seat belt buckle can wear this like good roing around the airport wearing it back like this roing around the airplane and even turning the shoes right this is crazy a letter shoes from emer’s seat cover which you look at this like this is pretty fashionable lady
Handbag oh this one this is very cool this is first class Al for ladies like very nice look at this the copits [Applause] fur look at the main landing gears five main landing gears 22 wheels I counted I still remember last time I saw the gear swing imagine standing under the 380 over 200 ton empty weight on your head doing the gear swing what a feat [Applause]
Video “Emirates Upgraded A380 – World’s Largest Aircraft Retrofit Program” was uploaded on 01/06/2024. Watch all the latest Videos by Sam Chui on Gretopia