Emirates thinking to order 30 more A380s

Emirates said it is studying “ways and means” to accommodate an order for 30 more Airbus SAS A380 superjumbos, reports Bloomberg.

Emirates president Tim Clark said: “We know what we want to do, we know where we could put more than 90 A380s today. It’s a question of can we actually fit them in? The economics of Houston are very powerful. That would be an extremely attractive proposition.”

Analyst Saj Ahmad commented: "Emirates has capitalised on its Dubai base with the A380 to increase capacity on lucrative markets like London and New York where slots can be an issue - so it's not really a surprise that they want more A380s. Tim Clark has been on record before saying that the carrier ideally would like a fleet of around 120 Airbus A380s.

“The problem is gate space at Dubai International Airport - the opening later this year of the new Al Maktoum International Airport will provide new capacity, but it's no clear whether Emirates plans to split or shift operations, if at all.”

Ahmad added: “While Airbus has improved the A380 performance, the company has become unstuck with the wing crack issue - leading to significant down time for repairs, damaging Emirates capability to grow. And with no suitable fix until later next year, Emirates is most afflicted given its growing A380 fleet and has rightfully demanded compensation as a result.

“The real question is whether any new A380 order means these will be used to replace early models - by the time the 90th A380 arrives into Emirates' fleet, the earliest models will be over a decade old and will be far less efficient."