Emirates President Sir Tim Clark (above) has revealed the Gulf carrier could look at accelerating deliveries of Airbus SE A350 jets if Boeing Co. fails to pin down delivery dates for the rival 777X model.
Emirates will hold talks with the US manufacturer on the latest schedule for the wide-body it was due to get from June 2020, but which is delayed until late 2023 at least. The outcome could see it look at whether there’s a case for seeking to bring the A350 in early.
“You can never say ever,” Clark told Bloomberg Television at the Dubai Airshow. “We’ll be looking at what the outcome is of the Boeing discussions we’re about to have to see how far they’ve got on. We also have aircraft from Airbus coming in, A350-900s. So we’ll have a look at all that and see how it best fits the network.”
Delivery of the 777X has been delayed by a lengthier process of regulatory approval amid intensified scrutiny in the wake of the grounding of Boeing’s 737 Max model. Clark said “it’s anybody’s guess” when the plane will come, though it might be in 2024.
“We’re not altogether sure they’re out of the woods yet,” he said. “It’s a question of the external input, the agencies that are involved around the build and certification of the aircraft that Boeing have got to make their peace with. There are issues still out there which Boeing has got to resolve.”
Clark said that passenger demand is now running at 50 percent or higher as travel begins to rebound from the coronavirus crisis, with cargo remaining strong as it has through the pandemic. Premium demand is robust, he said, with business class cabins “pretty full”, including the A380 superjumbo.
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