Emirates was forced to drop its initial plan to recycle the water used by its Airbus A380 fleet’s on-board showers, rather carry up to 500kg (1,100lb) of additional water, after it fell foul of regulators.

The airline, which received its first A380 last week, put the 489-seater into service on 1 August between Dubai and New York.

All Emirates’ three-class configured A380s will have two shower spa cubicles (which include lavatories) in the forward upper deck each side of the stairwell, ahead of the 14 first-class suites.

The airline’s president Tim Clark says that shower systems on business aircraft use recycled water, and he has seen demonstrations of contaminated water being turned to drinking quality following normal and then ultra-violet filtration.

“The European regulators wouldn’t allow that for an

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