DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Emirates has completed the refurbishment of its 100th widebody aircraft as part of a fleet retrofit program backed by a US$5 billion investment, the UAE national carrier said Tuesday.

Since the program began in November 2022, Emirates has refurbished 47 Airbus A380s and 53 Boeing 777s at its engineering facilities in Dubai. The airline expects to upgrade about 20 more aircraft by the end of 2026.

Over 44 months, more than 400 engineers and technicians spent a combined 4.4 million work hours refurbishing the aircraft.

The upgrades include refreshed cabin interiors and the installation of more than 3,800 Premium Economy seats, expanding the availability of the cabin class on additional routes across its network.

“Completing full cabin retrofits for 100 widebody aircraft in 44 months is a significant achievement,” Emirates President Sir Tim Clark said in a statement.

The retrofit work has been carried out at Emirates Engineering facilities in Dubai.

In May, the airline completed its first retrofit of a two-class to three-class Airbus A380, adding a Premium Economy cabin to the aircraft’s upper deck.

Beginning in October, Emirates plans to install new 4K OLED HDR10+ seatback screens and Safran Z400 seats as the retrofit program enters its next phase.