Emirates Weighs New Airbus A350 Order as Boeing Deliveries Drag Out - Bloomberg

Emirates Weighs New Airbus A350 Order as Boeing Deliveries Drag Out - Bloomberg

Gulf carrier Emirates is weighing more Airbus SE A350 jetliner orders to help fill gaps in its fleet in coming years as Boeing Co. struggles to bring its wide-body models to market.

Following strong freight demand during the pandemic, Emirates converted 10 Boeing 777s into cargo planes, depleting its passenger capacity, and a still-robust market might prompt it to switch another 10, President Tim Clark said.

That could open a potential hole in the Dubai-based company’s operations sometime between 2024 and 2027, with the gap hard to fill through existing order commitments, Clark said. Service entry for Boeing’s new 777X model has slipped to 2025, while Emirates wouldn’t get 787 Dreamliners until the same year at least should it hold the US manufacturer to a contract, he said.

“That’s kind of too late for us,” Clark told journalists in Germany on Wednesday. “This is why we’re getting a bit wary and we’re looking at the A350. We really only have one place to go.”