Emirates may order 100 aircraft

DUBAI: Dubai's carrier Emirates wants to double its order of 55 Airbus A380 superjumbo jets when airport capacity in its home base permits, its president said on Friday. "I want to double (the number of A380s on order)" from the European aircraft maker, Tim Clark told reporters.

But "55 is the absolute number of aircraft we can accommodate at the moment," he added ahead of a demonstration flight of the Boeing 777 long-haul aircraft just received by the airline owned by the government of Dubai, a member of the oil-rich United Arab Emirates. Clark told AFP that Emirates could take "a lot" more A380s, but Dubai international airport, the Middle East's busiest air hub, "can handle so much" for now.

The development of a second airport under construction in the bustling emirate will be a key factor in increasing the capacity of the fast-growing airline to handle more planes, he said.

Emirates is the biggest customer for the A380. The first of the 55 aircraft it has ordered in deals worth billions of dollars is due to be delivered in the first quarter of next year.

The airline, which now has a fleet of 108 aircraft, on Wednesday received the first of 10 Boeing 777s from a 9.7-billion-dollar order made in 2005.

The aircraft's maiden voyage will be from Dubai to the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo on October 1 and will represent the first direct route between the Middle East and South America.

Emirates is still weighing the 787 from Chicago-based Boeing against Toulouse, France-based Airbus's A350 and is "not concerned" about delays to the 787 flight-testing program, Emirates President Tim Clark said.

Maurice Flanagan, the carrier's vice chairman, said in July that the Dubai-based company was seeking a guarantee that Boeing would build a larger version of the 787 before the airline chooses planes to replace older aircraft and add routes.

Boeing 787 programme manager Michael Bair has said that making the 787-10, the fourth planned version of the plane, is a "matter of when, not if.'' Boeing's board has not yet approved producing the aircraft.

The manufacturer is running late on flight tests of its first 787. The planemaker, the world's second-largest, said September 5 it has delayed plans for the first flight of its 787 Dreamliner to as late as mid-December because of unfinished software and incomplete parts from suppliers. The company planned to start flying the aircraft by the end of this month.

The change won't delay first delivery in May 2008, Boeing Commercial Airplanes Chief Executive Officer Scott Carson has said. The airline is considering flights to Vietnam and other Asian destinations, Clark said.

The carrier may start new flights to Asia in six months, he said.

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