Emirates Airlines Considers Ordering 120 Airbus A380 Aircraft

Emirates Airlines is considering ordering 120 Airbus A380 aircraft when it has sufficient space at its home base in Dubai.

Emirates president Tim Clark said the airline, passenger rates of which are growing 20% annually, expects to maintain this level for the next five years and to fulfil all its 90 orders for the A380 super jumbo.

Under the plan, Emirates will order 30 Airbus A380, worth $10bn, according to Reuters.

If the airline goes ahead with its current growth plan it will have an A380 fleet worth over $40bn.

Emirates ordered 32 superjumbos worth $11bn at the Berlin Air Show in June and 30 Boeing 777-300ER wide-body planes, worth $9bn, at Farnborough Air Show in July.

United Airlines Signs Firm Order for 25 Airbus A350 XWB Aircraft

United Airlines has made a firm order for 25 of Airbus’ A350 extra-wide bodied jets, fulfilling a commitment signed in December, the European aircraft manufacturer said Wednesday.

Deliveries of the 314-seat A350-900s are scheduled to begin in 2016 and run through 2019, Airbus said in a statement.

The order is half of a 50-aircraft order United announced in December, when it also unveiled plans to buy 25 of Airbus’ rival Boeing Co.’s 787 jets.
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United Airlines Places $10 Billion Plane Order

Taking advantage of down market prices, United Airlines said on Tuesday it placed a $10 billion-plus order for 50 wide-bodied jetliners divided between Airbus and Boeing Co, in a bid to slash fuel costs and emissions.

United, a unit of UAL Corp, has letters of intent to order 25 of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliners and the same number of A350 planes from its European rival Airbus, part of EADS, following a six-month contest. The carrier also has future purchase rights for 50 of each aircraft.
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United Airlines Places Orders For 25 Airbus A350s And 25 Boeing 787s

United Airlines announced on Tuesday that it has ordered 25 Airbus A350XWB aircraft and 25 Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft and has future purchase rights for an additional 50 of both types of aircraft.

These orders follow a six-month request for proposal process, resulting in agreements with both Airbus and Boeing that allow United to meet its financial and operational objectives.
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Britain Pledges £340 Mln to Airbus A350

Britain pledged 340 million pounds in loans to European planemaker Airbus to win work, in a move set to aggravate a trans-atlantic dispute over aerospace industry aid.

Britain agreed to the loan on Friday to make sure parts for Airbus’s planned A350 widebody passenger jet are built in Britain, but it is likely to face fierce opposition from the United States and Airbus’s arch rival Boeing. Read more

Shares Plummet After Delay in Airbus Jet Delivery

Shares in the parent company of Airbus plummeted today, wiping nearly $7 billion off its market value, as a fresh delay in the delivery of the new double-decker A380 airplane raised questions about the company’s management and strategy.

The stock of European Aeronautic Defense and Space slid as much as a third after the French-German company warned late Tuesday that a six- to seven-month delay in the A380 delivery schedule would probably reduce operating profits by $2.5 billion between 2007 and 2010. Several leading customers for the aircraft, including Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Qantas Airlines, suggested that they would seek compensation for the delay, adding further momentum to the sell-off. Read more

Emirates hints at penalty as A380 delivery hits snag

Emirates Airlines yesterday said a further seven-month delay in Airbus A380 delivery schedule — first reported by Khaleej Times two days ago — could pose serious problems for its expansion plans and hinted that the UAE national carrier would invoke compensation clauses in its 43-plane purchase agreement with the European aircraft manufacturer.

“The new delay announced by Airbus SAS yesterday will create big problems with our expansion programme, but Emirates has a way of overcoming them,” said Mike Simon, Divisional Vice-President for Emirates Corporate Communications. Read more