Dubai's Emirates orders Boeing aircraft worth Dh191 billion

The announcement comes in the wake of record profit announced by the airline and its parent group last week

Waheed Abbas

Published: Mon 13 Nov 2023, 2:10 PM

Last updated: Mon 13 Nov 2023, 5:12 PM

Dubai’s flagship carrier Emirates on Monday announced a mammoth deal with US aircraft maker Boeing for an additional 95 widebody aircraft worth $52 billion (Dh191 billion).

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council; Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, and Deputy Ruler of Dubai; and Sheikh Mansour bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council; witnessed the announcement at the Dubai Airshow 2023

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The deal was announced by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group, along with senior Boeing officials.

The new order took Emirates' total order book to 295 aircraft.

The announcement comes in the wake of record profit announced by the airline and its parent group last week.

Emirates airline’s profit for the first half of 2023-24 hit a new record of Dh9.4 billion as compared to the same period last year’s profit of Dh4 billion. Emirates revenue, including other operating income, of Dh59.5 billion was up 19 per cent as compared with the Dh50.1 billion recorded in the same period last year. The airline’s record performance is attributable to the strong passenger demand for international travel across markets and Emirates’ ability to activate capacity to match demand; and offer customers great value and services.

By September 30, the airline was operating passenger and cargo services to 144 airports, utilising its entire Boeing 777 fleet and 104 A380s.

“Emirates is placing an order for additional widebody aircraft with Boeing worth $52 billion. We are signing a purchase agreement for the 55 additional 777-9 and 35 Boeing 777-8 including our previous order. The deliveries for 777-9 will start from 2025,” Sheikh Ahmed said during the press briefing.

Emirates also updated its previous order of 30 Boeing 787-9s to a total of 35 Dreamliners comprising.

Sheikh Ahmed said the new order will enable Emirates to connect even more cities, support Dubai’s economic agenda D33 and add 400 cities to Dubai’s foreign trade map over the next decade.

“By the early 2030s, we expect the Emirates fleet to be around 350-strong, connecting Dubai to even more cities around the world,” he said during the briefing.

Emirates is the biggest operator of Boeing 777 aircraft, and the airline has been involved in the 777 programme since its start up until this latest generation of 777X aircraft, Emirates chief said, adding that the 777 has been central to the Dubai airline’s fleet and network strategy.

Stan Deal, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said Emirates order a vote of confidence in the efficiency of the 777X family.

Other senior officials of the airline including president Sir Tim Clark; chief operating officer Adel Ahmad Al Redha and chief commercial officer Adnan Kazim attended the press conference.

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