Emirates makes aviation history… again

Emirates Airline announced another historic civil aviation aircraft order, when it signed contracts this week for 120 Airbus A350s, 11 A380s, and 12 Boeing 777-300ERs, worth an estimated USD 34.9 bln in list prices.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Emirates’ Chairman and Chief Executive, announced the massive order at the 10th Dubai Airshow and signed the contracts with Tom Enders, Airbus President and CEO, and Lee Monson, Vice President Middle East and Africa Sales, Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

The first Airbus A350 will be delivered in 2014, while 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.

With the new Boeing order, valued at USD 3.2 bln, Emirates now has 57 777s pending delivery and is set to become the world’s largest 777 operator in the next few years.

Emirates’ total order book now stands at 246 aircraft, all wide body, and worth over USD 60 bln.

“This is a massive investment which reflects our confidence in the future of air transport, and our confidence in Dubai,” said Sheikh Ahmed.

“The new aircraft we have ordered today are all of the latest technology – they are greener and more efficient to operate. We intend to invest millions of dollars more to develop cutting-edge in-flight products to match our cutting-edge aircraft fleet.”