Boeing opened the Dubai Airshow with a nearly $100 billion day that culminated in more than 200 orders, options, and purchase rights across its airliner product lines. They included firm orders from Emirates Airline for ninety 777X and five 787 Dreamliner widebodies, as well as from FlyDubai for thirty 787s.
The Emirates order announcement followed a contract from SunExpress Airlines for up to ninety 787 Max narrowbodies, 45 of which were firm; EgyptAir for 18 leased 737-8 Maxes; Royal Jordanian for nine 787s, three of which will be on lease; and Royal Air Maroc for two 787s.
While not calling it a record day (that may have come with the unveiling of the 777X), Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Stan Deal called the events on the opening day of the show “pretty darn big.” He added he was “not counting my chickens yet,” implying that more might come.
Emirates provided a significant reaffirmation of its plans for the 777X and 787s with its orders, which it valued at $52 billion. Under the contracts that culminated in a signing event attended by Emirates chairman and CEO HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum and Deal Tuesday afternoon, Emirates will take delivery of fifty-five 777-9s and thirty-five 777-8s.
The order almost doubles Emirates’ 777X family backlog to 205 airplanes. Emirates is set to become one of the launch customers of the 777-9 variant with plans to take delivery of the initial copy in 2025 and the balance through 2035. It also expects to serve as a launch customer for the 777-8, with first deliveries slated for 2030.
Along with the 777X orders, Emirates confirmed an agreement for 202 GE9X engines, bringing that total to 460 units. In addition, Emirates increased its 787 tally with the addition of five more, bringing its Dreamliner backlog to 35 while converting orders for thirty 787-9s to twenty 787-8s and ten 787-10s.
“These additional aircraft will enable Emirates to connect even more cities, supporting the Dubai economic agenda…to add 400 cities to Dubai’s foreign trade map over the next decade,” Sheikh Ahmed said. “By the early 2030s, we expect the Emirates fleet to be around 350-strong, connecting Dubai to even more cities around the world.”
Meanwhile, FlyDubai valued its orders for thirty 787-9 Dreamliners at $11 billion. The contract moves the carrier into the widebody realm, building on its all-737 fleet. Sheikh Ahmed said the order will enable the carrier, a subsidiary of Emirates, to "expand its horizon and cater to the growing demand on existing routes.”
That signing ceremony also occurred on Monday, extending a now 15-year relationship with Boeing that began at the Farnborough Airshow in July 2008, when FlyDubai ordered 50 Next-Generation 737s valued at $3.74 billion. The latest order calls for the start of delivery of the Dreamliners in 2026.
Boeing kicked off its spate orders on Monday with the SunExpress Airlines deal for up to 90, 45 of which are firm, five options, and another 40 purchase rights. If it exercises them all, the deal will more than double the fleet of the Lufthansa/Turkish Airlines joint venture over the next 10 years.
The firm agreement calls for twenty-seven 737 Max 8s and 18 Max 10s, but SunExpress CEO Max Kownatzki said the mix could shift. In addition to doubling the fleet, it pushes the nearly 35-year-old airline into aircraft with more than 200 seats. The SunExpress fleet currently stands at 66.
Other orders announced throughout the day included an agreement with Royal Jordanian Airlines for six 787-9s, including four new orders and two that were once shelved and resurrected. Meanwhile, Royal Jordanian is rounding out its 787 fleet with the lease of three additional -9s that will be delivered beginning in 2025, and is refurbishing its existing fleet of -8s to extend their service lives. Royal Jordanian is working with Boeing Global Services with the hopes of completing the refresh as it takes delivery of the newer models in the product line.
Samer Majali, vice chairman and CEO of Royal Jordanian, said the move allows for the delivery of newer models even as the wait for the widebodies has become extensive.
Another contract, with EgyptAir, was placed through Air Lease Corporation for eighteen 737-8 Maxes. Those leases will carry 12-year terms with deliveries anticipated to begin in 2026. EgyptAir chairman and CEO Yehia Zakaria said the order is part of a long-term goal to exxpand its fleet and make it younger as it aspires to take 125 airplanes by the 2028 timeframe.
A confirmation of an order from Royal Air Maroc for two 787-9s rounded out the day. "The two Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners will enable Royal Air Maroc to expand in the short-term its long-haul network in response to the highly favorable market conditions in 2023," said Royal Air Maroc chairman and CEO Abdelhamid Addou. "Simultaneously, the company is actively pursuing a significant tender to quadruple the fleet before 2037."