Emirates Commits to More Boeing 777Xs

Emirates Airlines announced on Monday that it has ordered 65 more Boeing 777X airliners, adding to the 205 it has already signed up for. Worth $38 billion at list prices, the deal currently covers the 777-9 variant but includes options to convert orders into the shorter 777-8 or lengthened 777-10.

As well as being good news for Boeing, which has faced delays with the 777X, the Emirates deal is also welcomed by GE Aerospace, which supplies the GE 9X engines. The additional order takes GE’s Emirates orders for the powerplant to 540.

“Emirates is already the world's largest Boeing 777 operator, and we are expanding our commitment to the program today,” said HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, who serves as chairman and CEO of the Emirates Group. “This is a long-term commitment to our partnership with Boeing and to U.S. aerospace. Each of our aircraft on order has been carefully factored into Emirates’ expansion plan, which is aligned to Dubai’s growth plans.”

The airline is keen for aircraft with increased capacity. To that end, it has backed Boeing’s feasibility study for the development of a larger 777-10 variant, the companies revealed in Monday’s order announcement. With the addition of another four rows of seats, the Dash 10 could accommodate up to 450 passengers, placing it toward the lower end of the A380 capacity bracket and positioning it as a rival to Airbus’s proposed A350 stretch.

In other business on the first day of the Dubai Airshow, Ethiopian Airlines agreed to buy 11 Boeing 737-8 narrowbodies to expand routes out of its Addis Ababa hub. The East African carrier already has the continent's largest backlog of 737 Max aircraft, as well as 777X and 787 Dreamliners.