Emirates has taken delivery of its first Rolls-Royce (RR)-powered Airbus A380s. The initial three examples, A6-EUM (c/n 225), A6-EUN (c/n 226), and A6-EUO (c/n 227), were handed over to the Dubai-based carrier in late December and are equipped with Trent 900 engines.
The super jumbos are the first of the 50-aircraft order signed by Emirates at the 2013 Dubai Air Show. The subsequent $9.2bn deal with RR, concluded in April 2015, was the biggest of its kind in the history of the British engine manufacturer. It also marked a significant departure for Emirates, for which the rival Engine Alliance GP7200 had been the powerplant of choice for its near 90-strong A380 fleet.
Elsewhere, Airbus has reached an agreement with the carrier and RR to defer outstanding deliveries of the A380. The European aerospace giant announced last summer it was slowing the rate of production of its flagship aircraft from the current 27 airframes per year to just 12 amid dwindling interest from potential customers and a decreasing order backlog. The Toulouse-based firm confirmed on December 27 that it will now postpone the delivery of six A380s to Emirates from 2017 to 2018, while a further six examples will slip from 2018 to 2019.
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