Emirates Airline has signed a contract for an additional four Airbus A380 Super-jumbos.
The airline is the main launch customer for the aircraft and already had the largest number of A380s on order which has now been increased from 43 to 47.
Emirates will take delivery of its first A380 in the third quarter of 2008.
Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman and chief executive, Emirates Airline and Group, said: “We have repeatedly said we are committed to the A380 and, having now fully settled all past issues, this latest agreement should leave no one in any doubt about our faith in Airbus, the company and the quality of the aircraft we are committing to. The Airbus A380 will be instrumental in helping Emirates meet its growing passenger demand and will do it using one of the most efficient and greenest aircraft ever produced.”
Louis Gallois, Co CEO EADS and CEO Airbus called the repeat order ‘a huge vote of confidence for Airbus’.
The order for the four additional A380s has been added to Emirates’ current order book for 107 new aircraft, worth approximately Dh111 billion ($30 billion) in list prices.
The group recently reported its 19th consecutive year of profit with a new record performance backed by continued double-digit growth. Group net profits increased 23.5 per cent to a new high of Dh3.5 billion for the financial year ended March 31. Emirates Airline’s profits of Dh3.1 billion also surpassed the previous year’s record profits of Dh2.5 billion.