Emirates could soon order up to 150 wide-body aircraft, with the airline eyeing both Airbus and Boeing jets.
Speaking at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Annual General Meeting (AGM), the President of Emirates Tim Clark confirmed that the carrier is looking to bolster its order book with more widebody aircraft.
The order could come as soon as this month, possibly alluding to the announcement happening at Paris Air Show starting June 19, 2023, or at the Dubai Airshow scheduled to occur in November 2023. Clark did not provide more details about the order, such as the aircraft type or whether it would turn to Boeing or Airbus, but specified that the airline is looking at the Airbus A350, the Boeing 777X, as well as the 787.
Emirates ordered 50 Airbus A350-900 aircraft and 30 Boeing 787-9s during the Dubai Airshow in 2019. However, the airline exercised its “substitution rights and converting 30 777 airplanes into 30 787-9s,” the announcement by Boeing read at the time.
The latest orders and deliveries data from Airbus and Boeing showed that Emirates has the following aircraft on order: 50 Airbus A350-900, 30 Boeing 787-9, 115 777X, and five 777Fs.
The most recent order from Emirates was in November 2022, when the Dubai International Airport (DXB)-based airline ordered the five 777F freighters.
“Emirates is investing in new freighters so that we can continue to serve customer demand with the latest fuel-efficient aircraft,” then said Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the chairman and chief executive of Emirates Airline and Group.
Currently, Emirates has 119 Airbus A380, 10 Boeing 777-200LR, and 124 Boeing 777-300ER in the passenger segment, with 11 Boeing 777F and a single wet leased Boeing 747-400F from Kalitta Air dedicated to cargo services, according to ch-aviation.com data.