The main sections of the first A380 for Japan’s All Nippon Airways have arrived at the Airbus final assembly line in Toulouse via a special convoy. They arrived with six subassemblies - the nose, central and aft fuselage sections, the tailplane, and the two wings.

Emirates and Airbus have firmed up an earlier memorandum of understanding and signed a contract for the 20 additional A380s with a further 16 options to be confirmed at a later date.

Dubai-based Emirates Airline has signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire up to 36 additional A380 aircraft. The agreement was signed this morning at the airline’s headquarters in Dubai by Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chief executive, Emirates Airline, and John Leahy, chief operating officer, customers, Airbus Commercial Aircraft.

Airbus has been selected by Singapore Airlines to provide cabin retrofit services for 14 A380 aircraft currently in service with the carrier. The retrofit programme, which will be undertaken at SIA Engineering Company in Singapore, will see the airline’s recently launched cabin products installed on the aircraft.

Qantas has reached an agreement with Airbus to upgrade its 12 flagship A380 cabins to further improve passenger comfort on long-haul operations while maximising economics. In particular, the new interior takes advantage of the A380’s large floor area to most efficiently embody Qantas’ latest seat products for business class and premium economy.

Etihad Airways has introduced its flagship Airbus A380 aircraft on its second daily service between the UAE capital and New York JFK. All 14 weekly flights between the two cities are now operated by the double-decker aircraft.