Emirates chooses A350, orders more 777 & A380 aircraft

AIRSHOW-UPDATE 2-Emirates picks Airbus A350 in $35 bln deal
Sun Nov 11, 2007

DUBAI, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Dubai-based airline Emirates [EMAIR.UL] has picked Airbus's new A350 XWB mid-size airliner in preference to Boeing Co's (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) rival 787, it was announced on Sunday, in a deal that could be worth almost $35 billion at list prices.

The deal, unveiled at the Dubai airshow, includes 70 A350s, another 50 on option and 11 A380 superjumbos as Emirates extended its lead as the largest customer for the world's biggest airliner.

It also revealed that it has bought 12 Boeing long-range 777-300ERs worth $3.2 billion.

The Airbus deal closes the gap on Boeing in the European planemakers annual tally of new orders and is the biggest boost yet for the A350, a project that has seen fitful design changes over the last two years.

"The 787-9 is a smaller aircraft with fewer seats," said Tim Clark, Emirates president. "The 10 is just not being offered," he said, referring to a stretched version of the 787 which some airlines have urged Boeing to launch.

Emirates had signed a tentative deal for eight of the 11 A380s previously and the Boeings were already on the U.S. company's books as an unnamed customer.

Rolls-Royce (RR.L: Quote, Profile, Research) said it would supply engines for the A350s in a deal that could be worth $8.4 billon if Emirates firms up the options. It includes a long-term maintenance contract.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Emirates' chairman and chief executive, announced the order at the 10th Dubai Air Show with Airbus's chief executive, Tom Enders, and Lee Monson, Boeing Commercial Airplanes' vice president for Middle East and Africa sales.

The Dubai show runs until Thursday and is expected to include other big orders for both Airbus and Boeing.

This was Boeing's order to loose.... They didn't want to go ahead with the 787-10, so Emirates went with the 350.... Boeing basically had the order if they would have launched the -10....

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Originally Posted by nwafan20

This was Boeing's order to loose.... They didn't want to go ahead with the 787-10, so Emirates went with the 350.... Boeing basically had the order if they would have launched the -10....

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Boeing was not in position to offer the 787-10, when, they just delayed the 787 program.

Considering that Boeing didn't seem to want to build a 787 to EK's specifications and Dubai is now an investor in EADS (bought over 3% this summer), I'm sure design influence was a factor in the A350 selection. For those of you who aren't familiar with EK's history, their initial fleet starting in the '80s was made up of A300s and A310s, and they only added Boeings to their fleet about 10 years later (around 1997 IIRC) so there is a long relationship with Toulouse there. Also EK doesn't need the planes for several years (I'm thinking they will replace A330s and their oldest 777s) so the later EIS of the A350 isn't of much issue here, they went with the most suitable option for their long-term needs. Nice to see the XWB project get a boost, and also nice to see some Boeing orders as well. EK is truly becoming a global airline and in some respects you could even say it's like the Pan Am of the 21st century, they are now serving every continent with the addition of Sao Paulo earlier this year!

Emirates is really on a shopping spree.. it's hard to imaging them with so much money buying so much aircrafts and opening new routes..