Emirates Airline announced at the 10th Dubai Air Show that it had signed contracts for orders for 120 Airbus A350s, 11 A380s, and 12 Boeing 777-300ERs, worth an estimated $34.9 billion in list prices.
The agreement with Airbus comprises firm orders for 50 A350-900s and 20 A350-1000s, plus 50 options for the A350-900s. The first A350 will be delivered to Emirates in 2014.
Emirates also firmed up orders on the eight A380s for which it had signed letters of intent earlier this year, and placed firm orders for an additional three of the double-decker aircraft, bringing its total firm order for the A380s to 58.
The contract with Boeing is for 12 firm orders of the 777-300ERs, valued at $3.2 billion. With this new order, Emirates now has 57 Boeing 777s pending delivery and is set to become the world’s largest 777 operator in the next few years.
Emirates also signed with Rolls Royce for the Trent XWB engines to power its new A350s; Engine Alliance for the GP7200 to power its additional A380s and GE Aviation for GE90 engines to power the 777-300ERs.
In total, Emirates’ firm aircraft and engine orders announced are worth $23.4 billion – a value that increases to $34.9 billion if the 50 options are included. This is the largest-ever aircraft commitment in civil aviation made by any airline in a single order.
Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, chairman and chief executive, Emirates Airline and Group said “Emirates is committing close to $35 billion today for new aircraft. Our total order includes 93 aircraft on firm order and 50 on option.”
Emirates’ total order book now stands at 246 aircraft, all wide body, and worth over $60 billion.
He added, “In 2003, our plan was for Emirates to have 100 aircraft by 2010. We have already surpassed that target. Growth and demand has exceeded the most optimistic projections.
The new aircraft we have ordered are all of the latest technology – they are greener and more efficient... and they will allow Emirates to continue setting the gold standard in service. We intend to invest millions of dollars more to develop cutting-edge in-flight products to match our cutting-edge aircraft fleet.”