Emirates Airline has completed the refurbishment of its 100th aircraft under a $5 billion retrofit programme, making the airline the largest cabin upgrade project ever undertaken by any carrier.

The feat was completed at Emirates Engineering’s facilities in Dubai, where the programme has been running since November 2022, a statement released by the airline yesterday said.

So far, 47 Airbus A380s and 53 Boeing 777s have undergone extensive nose-to-tail cabin renovations.

The airline said the achievement was reached in 44 months, during which more than 400 engineers and technicians spent a combined 4.4 million man-hours upgrading the aircraft interiors.

By the end of December 2026, about 20 additional aircraft are expected to be completed, pushing the programme well beyond its halfway mark.

A major feature of the retrofit initiative is the installation of Emirates’ Premium Economy cabin across the fleet. The airline said more than 3,800 premium economy seats have already been fitted, allowing the product to be rolled out on more routes across its global network.

Commenting on the project, Emirates President, Tim Clark, said the completion of 100 refurbished wide-body aircraft was a significant milestone.

“Our commitment to deliver best-in-class products across every cabin is an ongoing endeavour, and completing full cabin retrofits for 100 wide-body aircraft in 44 months is a significant achievement,” he said.

According to Clark, the investment was aimed at enhancing passenger comfort and luxury across all cabin classes while demonstrating the airline’s ability to execute a complex engineering project entirely in-house.

The retrofit programme has averaged 28 aircraft upgrades yearly.

During each refurbishment, engineers completely strip out the cabin interiors, replace or refurbish thousands of components and reassemble the aircraft to new specifications.

Emirates said an A380 retrofit involves more than 4,000 parts, while a Boeing 777 requires over 2,500 parts.

To manage the scale of the project, the engineering team developed specialised equipment, modified catering trucks to transport large cabin components within the hangars and introduced new tracking and storage systems.

The airline said it has worked with more than 100 suppliers worldwide on the programme.

The retrofit initiative was initially announced in November 2021 and covered 105 aircraft, Emirates said.

It was later expanded to 191 aircraft in May 2024 and then to 219 aircraft by the end of that year following strong customer demand.

In August 2024, the first retrofitted Boeing 777 entered commercial service.

Emirates said another milestone was achieved in May 2026 when engineers completed a major A380 conversion that introduced Premium Economy seating on the aircraft’s upper deck for the first time.

The airline added that the next phase of the programme, scheduled to begin in October 2026, will include the installation of 4K OLED HDR10+ seatback screens and new lightweight Safran Z400 seats, among other product enhancements.