Emirates, the biggest airliner in the Middle East, ordered 95 planes, and its sister airline FlyDubai ordered 30 wide-bodied planes from the US manufacturer Boeing
Emirates, a Dubai-based carrier, placed an order of long-range flights worth over USD 52 billion to Boring Co. aircraft at the Dubai Airshow. Such a huge order is placed amidst bounce back from the coronavirus pandemic, rising aviation fuel, and unstable regional security due to Israel’s war with Hamas.
Emirates, the biggest airliner in the Middle East, ordered 95 planes, and its sister airline FlyDubai ordered 30 wide-bodied planes from the US manufacturer Boeing. The largest order from Emirates worth over USD 52 billion comprises an order of 55 Boeing 777-9s, 35 777-8s, and five 787 Dreamliners.
They left European Airbus hanging out dry for their similar A350 jets.
Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman of Emirates and FlyDubai, said that these orders reflect the huge investments that Dubai is willing to make for the future of aviation. As per his saying, it is expected that Boeing will deliver the 777-9s in 2025 and the 777-8s in 2030.
FlyDubai, an Emirates sister company offering budget services, has ordered 30 Boeing 787-9s at the cost of USD 63 billion (231 billion dirhams). These are wide-bodied planes with larger capacities beneficial for expanding services to newer routes.
SunExpress, a Turkish-German budget carrier, signed their largest-ever order for 45 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft for over USD 5 billion at list price when normally such orders are placed at a discount. This consists of 28 737-8s and 17 737-10s with the option to purchase up to 90 planes.
Boeing’s share price increased 4.4% at the NYSE. Shares also rose because of a Bloomberg report that stated talks between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping for unfreezing the Chinese 737 purchases.
Other deals
Riyadh Air, a newcomer in the industry, is competing with the leading regional carrier, Emirates. Its CEO, Tony Douglas, said that they will be placing a new order for narrow-body jets in a few weeks. Latvia-based airBaltic has ordered 30 A220-300 planes from Boeing’s European counterpart, Airbus, which was left out by Emirates. They have plans to run 100 planes by the end of this decade with purchase rights for more than 20 aircraft.
Royal Jordanian ordered 4 Boeing 787 Dreamliners to expand its fleet of 787-9 to six. EgyptAir leased 18 737 MAX instead of ordering.
The Paris Air Show held in June was a major success in terms of record deals. The Indian low-cost carrier Indigo placed an order for 500 Airbus A320-family planes, registering the biggest order for a civil aircraft.
Emirates now has a pending order book for more than 295 planes. This order book consists of 205 777X planes for which the airline has placed the order for 202 GE9X engines to power the massive fleet. Thales, a French technology group, has signed a contract to provide entertainment systems for the 777X flights.
The first edition of the Dubai Airshow, where Emirates has been profitable since the pandemic. It reported a loss of USD 5.5 billion in FY 2020-21, majorly because of halting flights. Later on, in FY 2021-22, the losses decreased to just USD 1.1 billion, thanks to the reopening of economies. Last week, Emirates posted a record net profit of AED 10.1 billion (USD 2.7 billion), a staggering 138% increase since the previous year.
According to the International Air Transport Association, air traffic has reached a level of 97% of pre-covid levels. The Middle Eastern airlines witnessed an increase of 26.6% in the September traffic on a YoY basis. These Gulf aircraft carriers cater to pivotal East-West routes in global traffic.
Tim Clark, President of Emirates, told Bloomberg to keep an eye on this space in terms of purchases from Airbus and Boeing. The airline is also hiring new pilots and crew members to operate the new aircraft.