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Days after the Emirates President voiced his displeasure with Airbus over its engines in the A350-1000 aircraft, the Dubai-based airline announced a new order of 15 jets of the smaller, A350-900 aircraft, at the Dubai Airshow worth $6 billion.
The deal was announced by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and CEO, Emirates airline and Group, who added the airline planned to “deploy our A350s to serve a range of new markets including long-haul missions of up to 15 hours flying time from Dubai.”
“We will work closely with Airbus and Rolls-Royce to ensure our aircraft deliver the best possible operating efficiency and flying experience for our customers,” he added.
The first A350 is scheduled to join Emirates’ fleet in August 2024, and with the additional orders, Emirates will receive A350 deliveries until early 2028.
Including its order for 95 additional Boeing aircraft on Monday, worth $52 billion, Emirates will have a total order book of 310 wide-body aircraft.
Earlier at the airshow, Emirates President Tim Clark stated the airline was unhappy with the Rolls-Royce engines used in the A350-1000, for not being able to do what the airline wants from a cycle perspective.
In response, Airbus CCO and Head of Airbus International Christian Scherer called it “a perfectly fine engine”, before declining to comment further at a press conference.
(Writing by Bindu Rai, editing by Seban Scaria)
