For Emirates’ long-haul fleet, the challenge is twofold: maintaining aging widebodies while looking beyond their likely life spans to the next big thing.
At the Dubai Airshow, new momentum could be felt for FlyDubai and Emirates and the expanded Dubai World Central (DWC) airport planned to open in or around 2032.
In spite of geopolitical tensions and trade uncertainty, airlines in the Gulf region are spending big money on large new narrowbody and widebody fleets.
By Christine Boynton, Jens Flottau, Guy Norris, Graham Dunn
Listen in as editors discuss Boeing and Airbus both now looking at the feasibility of upsizing their largest twin-aisles at the behest of Emirates, which led the way for orders at Dubai Airshow.
Safran Seats will establish a manufacturing and seat assembly facility in Dubai to support Emirates that will initially focus on business and economy seats for cabin retrofits.
Emirates Airline President Tim Clark believes a stretched version of the 777-10 would only be available well into the 2030s, while he thinks it will be harder for Airbus to do larger variant of the A350 but would like that too.
Emirates is hoping to convince Boeing to launch and develop an even larger version of the Boeing 777X after signing up for an additional 65 of the type at Dubai Airshow.
With the aviation community converging for the Dubai Airshow, this week’s Flight Friday looks at the post-pandemic recovery of the Middle East’s major carriers.
Airbus and Boeing are exploring new narrowbody designs. But with no plans for new long-haul aircraft, today’s widebodies could dominate the segment for decades.
The Boeing 777-9 is planned to arrive in 2027, seven years after the initial target. Customers are struggling to adapt amid a broader shortage of widebodies.
Emirates President Tim Clark has described himself as being “a little bit miffed” after learning about Boeing’s latest timeline for the 777X program from the media rather than the manufacturer directly.
Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, launched 20 years ago with diverse goals, now focuses on aircraft leasing and MRO, but it might revisit its wider original vision.