Emirates buys four Airbus A380 for R $ 1 billion and expands the model’s own fleet

Emirates announced the acquisition of four Airbus A380 operating under leasing since 2013, for approximately $ 180 million – the equivalent of $ 1 billion. The jets belonged to the Investment Company Doric Nimrod Air Three and will have their lease contracts closed in the coming months.

The values include about US $ 25 million for the transfer of ownership of each aircraft and US $ 20 million (R $ 111.4 million) for the exemption of the conditions of return stipulated in the contract. Payment is scheduled for the first quarter of 2026.

The four planes, recorded as A6-EEK, A6-EEM, A6-EEO and A6-EEL, were delivered to Emirates in the second half of 2013 and have more than twelve years of operation. Each can carry up to 489 passengers in three classes-fourteen in the first, 76 in the executive and 399 in the economic-and accumulates between 40,000 and 43,000 hours of flight, according to CH-Aviation data.

With the completion of the purchase, the ownership of the jets will officially pass to Emirates as leasing contracts expire between August and November this year, except in the case of A6-EEL, whose transfer will occur after programmed maintenance.

The acquisition is part of a Dubai airline strategy to increase the participation of own aircraft in the A380 fleet. Currently, Emirates has more than sixty model units and operates 54 on a leasing basis. Last year, the company bought seven other aircraft in the series for values between US $ 35 million and US $ 40 million (between R $ 195.1 million and R $ 222.9 million) each.

Emirates is the world’s largest Airbus A380 operator with 116 active aircraft – almost half of the 251 produced by Airbus. Despite the A380 retirement by other airlines, Emirates recently reaffirmed that it will keep the aircraft in operation by 2040.