Emirates, the Middle East largest airline, was founded in the middle of the 1980's with a fleet of a few Airbus A300's and A310's. It has since then grown drastically and it is now one of the largest major airlines in the world with a fleet consisting of mostly Airbus 330's and Boeing 777's in long range variant.
Emirates was the launch customer for the Airbus A380 aircraft back in 2000 when the then project A3XX was officially called A380. It ordered a total of 58 units and it remains so far the airline which has ordered the most A380's from Airbus. The first unit was just delivered to the Dubai based carrier. It is the second airline to take delivery of the A380, the first one to receive it was Singapore Airlines back in October 2007.
Following the delivery of the first A380 super, jumbo, Emirates placed additional order from Airbus, it ordered an additional 60 widebodies including 30 A330-300 (the airline already operates the A330-200, a slightly shorter variant) as well as 30 A350XWB (Extra Wide Body), currently under study, to be delivered from 2012 onwards. Emirates has never flown any narrowbody aircraft. The engine choice for the new Airbus aircraft at Emirates will likely be the Rolls Royce Trent. First Class passengers will be able to enjoy a shower but the luxury feature is limited up to five minutes maximum because of weight restrictions on the aircraft, since additional water has to be carried on board. The other luxury feature on the aircraft is a mini bar installed on the upper deck, a feature that the early Boeing 747's used to have.
The first A380 for Emirates arrived in Dubai, from Germany where sections of the fuselage are built, and it is scheduled to fly to New York on August 1st. The aircraft is configured to carry nearly 500 passengers in three classes of service. The second unit is scheduled to be delivered in September.
