Emirates Will Keep A380 Flying Until End of Next Decade - Bloomberg

Emirates Will Keep A380 Flying Until End of Next Decade - Bloomberg

Emirates plans to keep its giant fleet of Airbus SE A380 double-deckers in operation until the end of next decade, as the world’s largest international airline seeks to extend the lifespan of an aircraft that helped lay the foundation for its dominance on global routes.

The Dubai-based carrier will introduce one more upgrade to the aircraft’s first-class cabins before retiring the planes at the end of next decade, Emirates President Tim Clark told journalists at an aviation gathering in New Delhi on Sunday.

“Like a hotel, you’ve got to keep at it and we’ll change out the products,” Clark said. The new first-class for the aircraft is “on the drawing board” at the moment, he said, declining to provide details

Emirates is already pouring billions into a refresh of its fleet of A380s as it seeks to extend the jumbo jets’ lifespan. Airbus announced early in 2019 that it would cease making the plane because of slim orders, with only Emirates buying the giant plane in large quantities, with a fleet of more than 100 units. Many other carriers have retired their fleets, and switched to smaller variants like the Airbus A350-1000 or the Boeing Co. 777.

“We can probably push her out for a quite a few years yet,” Clark said of the A380 aircraft. Emirates has broken some older double-deckers so the airline has a large storage of parts, though getting spares for the engines might prove harder over time, he said.

Clark is pushing the lifespan of the planes because Emirates lacks an obvious replacement at this stage. The airline hasn’t ordered the A350-1000 because Clark has been openly critical of the durability of the aircraft’s engines, made by Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc. And the Boeing 777X model won’t arrive before sometime next year, he said.

Boeing is providing “clearer messages” on its delivery program for the 777X, the next iteration of its popular widebody aircraft, Clark said, with an entry into service in global fleets possibly toward the fall of next year.

The refreshed A380s come with a four-class layout consisting of first, business, premium economy and economy class. Emirates equipped its original first class with extras like enclosed cabins and even showers, while business-class passengers can mingle at a communal bar on the upper deck.

While the A380 is a hit with the flying public because of its imposing size and often luxurious layout, airlines struggled to make it operationally viable given the high fuel costs and complexity to operate a plane of that size on many routes.

OPEC+ oil producers stick to their guns with another big hike for July | Reuters

OPEC+ oil producers stick to their guns with another big hike for July | Reuters

The world’s largest group of oil producers, OPEC+, stuck to its guns on Saturday with another big increase of 411,000 barrels per day for July as it looks to wrestle back market share and punish over-producers.

Having spent years curbing production - more than 5 million barrels a day (bpd) or 5% of world demand - eight OPEC+ countries made an modest output increase in April before tripling it for May, June and now July.

They are spurring production despite the extra supply weighing on crude prices as group leaders Saudi Arabia and Russia seek to win back market share as well as punish over-producing allies such as Iraq and Kazakhstan.

"Today’s decision only goes to show that market share is on top of the agenda. If price will not get you the revenues you want, they are hoping that volume will," said analyst Harry Tchilinguirian of Onyx Captal Group. The eight countries held an online meeting on Saturday to set July production. They also discussed other options, an OPEC+ delegate said. On Friday, sources familiar with OPEC+ talks had said they could discuss an even larger hike.

In a statement OPEC+ cited a "steady global economic outlook and current healthy market fundamentals, as reflected in the low oil inventories" as its reasoning for the July increase.

OPEC+ pumps about half of the world's oil and includes OPEC members and allies such as Russia.

Its increased supply is weighing on crude prices, squeezing all producers, but some more than others, including a key group of rivals - U.S. shale producers, analysts say.

"Three strikes from OPEC+, and none were softballs. May warned, June confirmed, and July fires a shot across the bow," said Jorge Leon, head of geopolitical analysis at Rystad and a former OPEC official.

Since April, the OPEC+ eight have now made or announced increases totalling 1.37 million bpd, or 62% of the 2.2 million bpd they aim to add back to the market.

Higher summer oil demand favours increasing output at this time, OPEC+ officials including Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak have said.

"The oil market remains tight indicating it can absorb additional barrels, as the effective increase should be smaller as several of the eight countries are overproducing, and demand is seasonally rising," said Giovanni Staunovo, analyst at UBS.

Algeria was among a small number of nations that requested a pause in the output hikes on Saturday, a source familiar with the matter said.

Oil prices fell to a four-year low in April, slipping below $60 per barrel after OPEC+ said it was tripling its output hike in May and as U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs raised concerns about global economic weakness. Prices closed just below $63 on Friday.

Global oil demand is expected to grow by an average of 775,000 bpd in 2025, according to a Reuters poll of analysts published on Friday, while the International Energy Agency in its latest outlook saw an increase of 740,000 bpd.

Besides the 2.2 million bpd cut that the eight members started to unwind in April, OPEC+ has two other layers of cuts that are expected to remain in place until the end of 2026.