Emirates’ First Airbus A350 Delayed Until 2025

Emirates, a major Middle Eastern carrier, will see its first Airbus A350 further delayed, impacting the remainder of its 2024 plans.

Aeroroutes reports that Emirates has revised its plans for the entry into service of its A350-900, thanks to a new schedule update issued on 23 October 2024.

As part of the latest revision, the debut, which will be between Dubai and Edinburgh, has been further delayed until 15 January 2024, which represents a pushback of another month.

Emirates expected the aircraft to debut and thus enter service on 16 December 2024, but that now seems out of reach as delays continue to wreak havoc on the airline and its short-term delivery expectations.

As a result of the subsequent pushback of the entry into service, all other markets that had previously been identified to see the A350-900 on service from Dubai have also been pushed back, such as Colombo, Bahrain, Kuwait City, and more.

Staggeringly, the Middle Eastern carrier had expected the aircraft to be months into scheduled passenger flying, with early schedules identified and an EIS in August/September of 2024.

However, all delivery timeframes that have since been published publicly haven’t been met, and obvious frustrations are mounting for Emirates, who seemingly cannot catch a break with their future aircraft and are all encountering issues.

For example, as recently ago as mid-September, Emirates was forecasting an October first delivery and subsequent entry into service after familiarisation was to occur.

Following the first delivery, Emirates had also publicly hoped to see more units arrive in the year’s final two months. Those plans are now in tatters as continued supply chain issues and internal difficulties at Airbus limit their ability to deliver planes on time.

Emirates First Faced 777X Delays

Just a week before Emirates delayed the entry into service of its first Airbus A350-900 until 2025, they also faced new delays for their upcoming 777X.

The A350-900 and 777X are considered important pillars of the carrier’s future long-haul network; however, arguably, the latter has encountered more issues.

The carrier was initially hopeful of a 2020 first delivery for the 777X. However, after a turbulent last half-decade, fresh estimates mean the first delivery won’t likely occur until 2026, and then an EIS likely won’t come until 2027, permitting no further delays.

All these delays impact the airline’s ability to serve markets and continue to develop its business positively adequately.

The airline has already been very outspoken about its thoughts regarding the 777X, with frustrations and tensions seemingly reaching a boiling point on numerous occasions.