Emirates has taken delivery of its first Airbus A350-900 aircraft, which will arrive at the airline’s home hub, Dubai International Airport (DXB), later on November 25.
First A350-900 delivery
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.
Photo: Airbus
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).
“Once the Emirates A350 lands in Dubai, the aircraft will receive its finishing touches at Emirates Engineering before being officially unveiled at a special event later this week.”
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.
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Delivery delays
Emirates had to push back the entry-into-service (EIS) date of the A350 several times. Initially, the airline expected to take delivery of the aircraft in August but it was pushed back to October.
When the carrier ordered an additional 15 A350-900 during the Dubai Airshow in November 2023, it said it would take deliveries of the aircraft between August 2024 and early 2028. It remains to be seen whether the recent delivery delays have affected that timeframe.
During the same event, Tim Clark, the president of Emirates, blasted the A350-1000 and its engine, the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97, for being defective.
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.
Photo: Airbus
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.
“With the latest generation cabin products including more of our sought-after Premium Economy to more cities, top-notch in-flight entertainment technologies and an abundance of other customer-friendly features, the Emirates A350 builds on our long-standing commitment of investing in the very best customer experience in the sky.”
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The Dubai-based airline had planned to launch the Airbus A350 service in September 2024.
Flying commercially in January
Current flight schedules from the aviation analytics company Cirium showed that the A350-900 would operate daily flights to Edinburgh in January 2025.
Photo: Great Circle Mapper
In February 2025, the A350’s destination list within the carrier’s network should include Ahmedabad, Bahrain, Edinburgh, Kuwait, and Mumbai.
By March 2025, the airline should add the remaining four airports, namely Bologna, Colombo, Lyon, and Muscat.
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