Emirates eyes 50 to 70 Airbus or Boeing long-haul jets

Addition would bolster the carrier’s long-haul fleet

Berlin: Emirates airlines is considering the purchase of up to 70 twin-engined Airbus A350s or Boeing 787s, company president Tim Clark said in Berlin Thursday, which would bolster the carrier’s long-haul fleet.

Clark remained vague on the number and maker of twin-engined wide-body planes, but said the acquisition was part of Emirates’s efforts to increase its share of the traffic on the world’s long-haul routes.

“Possibly it will be 50 to 70, but we still have to decide,” Clark said during a visit to Berlin’s ITB tourism convention, adding many details on the planned purchase will depend on development of Emirates’ principal Dubai International Airport hub.

The announcement represented more potential good news for Airbus, following Clark’s earlier comments that Emirates may buy 100 to 200 A380s — the superjumbo that Airbus received no orders for in 2014.

If that order materialises, it would not only go a long way to alleviate doubts over the future of the A380 programme, but also help Airbus partially recoup business lost last June when Emirates cancelled its 2007 order of 70 A350s valued at $16.5 billion (Dh60.5 billion).

Clark said the combination of increasing air travel and plummeting oil prices means “the industry has a huge opportunity to put itself back on to a profit basis, generating cash and able to expand and to reinvest” in new, more efficient aircraft.