AeroBD.NEWS : Emirates has taken delivery of its first Airbus A350-900 aircraft, which will arrive at the airline’s primary hub, Dubai International Airport (DXB), later on November 25. In a statement on November 25, Emirates said that today will be an important fleet milestone for the airline, as it has taken delivery of its first-ever A350-900.

The aircraft, registered as A6-EXA, will be the first of 65 A350-900 that Airbus will deliver to the Dubai-based carrier. The widebody jet will be the first new type to enter its fleet since 2008 when Emirates took delivery of its first-ever A380.

While Airbus has handed over the A350-900 to Emirates, the aircraft will be ferried from Toulouse Blagnac Airport (TLS), where the European plane maker has its A350 final assembly line (FAL), to Dubai International Airport (DXB) at 16:00 local time (UTC +1).

Emirates highlighted that the delivery flight will be powered by a blend of regular jet fuel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The A350-900 should enter commercial service in January 2025, with the first destination being Edinburgh Airport (EDI). Eight other destinations in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East will follow, the airline said.

Aviation Flights Group records showed that A6-EXA had completed seven test flights before its delivery, including the airframe’s most recent flight on November 21, which it operated under the temporary test registration F-WZGA.

The inaugural route for the A350-900 was supposed to be flights to Bahrain International Airport (BAH), with the type being scheduled to replace Emirates’ Boeing 777s on September 15.
Other airports where Emirates had initially scheduled flights with the A350-900 include Kuwait International Airport (KWI), Muscat International Airport (MCT), Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM), Ahmedabad Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (AMD), Colombo Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB), Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport (LYS), Bologna Guglielmo Marconi Airport (BLQ), and Edinburgh Airport (EDI). It still (re)launched flights to the Scottish capital with the 777-200LR on November 4, returning to Edinburgh Airport (EDI) for the first time since March 2020.

When the airline announced the initial nine A350-900 routes in May, Adnan Kazim, the deputy president and chief commercial officer (CCO) of Emirates, said that the A350-900 would be a game-changer for the carrier. The aircraft would enable the airline to serve destinations with superior operating efficiency and flexibility across several regions.