Emirates will soon start selling upcycled aviation memorabilia and bespoke furniture pieces made out of items salvaged from the first-ever Airbus A380 superjumbo which was delivered to the Dubai-based airline back in July 2008. As part of the massive haul which is up for sale, even the iconic onboard lounge and bar will be available to buy.
The first-ever Emirates A380 with registration A6-EDA was grounded on March 8, 2020, after completing its last commercial flight from Singapore to Dubai just as pandemic restrictions really started to bite. In its 12-year life with Emirates, the double-deck aircraft visited 62 airports and completed 6,319.
The aircraft heralded in a new era for Emirates when it was delivered, becoming the first time that Emirates First Class passengers could take a shower on a plane or that premium passengers could relax in the airline’s now-famous onboard lounge.
Both ideas are credited to the visionary genius of Emirates’ president Sir Tim Clark who announced the airline’s first foray into aircraft upcycling on Monday.
“Through this initiative, our customers and fans can take home a piece of aviation history while saving valuable materials from landfill and contributing to a charitable cause through the Emirates Airline Foundation,” Sir Tim explained.
“It’s an elegant and fitting retirement solution for this iconic aircraft and our flagship.”
Emirates has partnered with Falcon Aircraft Recycling, a local company that is about to embark on its most ambitious project to date. Salvagers will get to work removing as much as 190 tonnes of various metals, plastics, carbon fiber composites and other materials from the aircraft to be recycled, repurposed or upcycled.
“Our teams are currently busy with the breakdown and final concepts for the first batch of unique upcycled items,” commented Falcon’s director Andrew Tonks. “We look forward to unveiling more information on the retail items soon.”
Although A6-EDA was the first A380 delivered to Emirates, it wasn’t the first to be permanently retired. That dubious honour went to A6-EDB, which as the registration would suggest was the second A380 delivered to Emirates.
Both aircraft were first cannibalised by Emirates’ engineering team for serviceable components like engines, landing gears and flight control components.
Emirates hasn’t yet revealed what retail items will be available but it’s working with a local company that makes custom furniture and merchandise from aircraft materials. The smallest and most affordable item is likely to be keyrings made out of the aircraft skin, while entire seats and, of course, the onboard bar will also be put up for sale.
A portion of the sale profits will go to the Emirates Airline Foundation.
