If you fancy a piece of Emirates’ first retired Airbus A380, keep your eyes peeled. The carrier has engaged Falcon Aircraft Recycling to repurpose features and materials from the superjumbo, transforming them into furniture and other aviation memorabilia.
The Emirates A380, registered A6-EDA, has already had useful parts and components such as engines, landing gears and flight control components, retrieved.
Now, instead of being left to languish in a desert, UAE-based Falcon Aircraft Recycling will break down the superjumbo aircraft and save what it can, helping to prevent much of it from ending up in landfill.
It is partnering with Wings Craft, another UAE-based company, for recycling and upcycling of the aircraft into collectibles.
For example, the famous Emirates onboard bar will be transformed into bespoke furniture. In total, approximately 190 tonnes of various metals, plastics, carbon fiber composites and other materials will be removed from the aircraft and either recycled or repurposed.
“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,” Emirates President Tim Clark said in a November 1, 2021 statement.
“It’s an elegant and fitting retirement solution for this iconic aircraft and our flagship.”
Products will be listed for sale in phases over the coming months, with a portion of profits going to the Emirates Airline Foundation, Emirates said.
In a pioneering sustainability initiative, we will completely recycle and upcycle our first retired @Airbus A380 into brand new, collectable or lifestyle-focused products. https://t.co/9F3RFVnT7c pic.twitter.com/hULkutFSVP
— Emirates Airline (@emirates) November 1, 2021
“This is our most ambitious project to date which will see the first deconstruction of an A380 outside of Europe,” Andrew Tonks, Director of Falcon Aircraft Recycling, commented in the statement.
Emirates is the world’s largest operator of the A380. But despite entering into service only in 2007 with Singapore Airlines (SIA1) (SINGY), the first aircraft have already been retired. The final A380 ever to be produced are due to be delivered to Emirates this year.
The Emirates aircraft now being scrapped, A6-EDA, had its first commercial flight on August 1, 2008 from Dubai to New York JFK. After 6,319 flights, its final commercial flight was from Singapore to Dubai on March 8, 2020.