Emirates has placed orders for Airbus A330-900neo and A350-900, while cancelling 39 of its remaining A380 orders.
The Dubai-based carrier has today announced that it has signed orders for 40 A330-900neo, with deliveries starting in 2021, as well as 30 A350-900, due to be delivered from 2024 onward. Emirates will mostly use the Airbus A330neos on regional and lower-demand routes, while the A350 will be deployed on the airline’s long-haul operations. Both aircraft types are similar in size and capacity.
The 70 agreed aircraft are worth US $21.4 billion in list prices.
At the same time, Emirates has cancelled 39 of its 53 Airbus A380 orders. It will receive 14 remaining A380s until the end of 2021, when the aircraft programme is scheduled to end. The airline will operate a total of 123 Airbus A380 when the last one gets delivered. Earlier this year, it was reported that Emirates is considering to convert its A380 orders to either A330neo or A350.
He adds that the A380 will remain an important part of Emirates’ fleet “well into the 2030s” and says that the carrier will continue to invest in the onboard product and services of the aircraft type.
Emirates currently operates an all-widebody fleet of more than 160 Boeing 777 (including 139 777-300ER) and 109 Airbus A380. It is the world’s largest customer of both aircraft types. In 2017, Emirates signed an order for 40 Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner. It is currently unclear whether the airplanes will ever be delivered to the airline. Emirates also has orders for 35 Boeing 777-8 and 115 777-9, with options for 50 more.
Jakob Wert is an aviation journalist from Germany. He built up the website IFN.news and is the Editor-In-Chief of International Flight Network.
