Emirates (EK, Dubai International) has upped its investment in fleet refurbishment programs to USD4 billion to help counter ongoing aircraft delivery delays, according to vice president and chief operating officer Adel Al Redha.
Speaking at this week's Aviation Future Week event in Dubai, Al Redha said Emirates is increasing the number of B777s and A380-800s it will refurbish to over 200. Since starting the program in 2022, the airline has completed 22 jobs.
Al Redha's comments coincide with Boeing confirming that first deliveries of its B777X would not occur until 2026. Emirates has thirty-five B777-8s and 170 B777-9s on order. He said Emirates has sought compensation from Boeing due to the delays.
In a statement shared with ch-aviation earlier this week, Emirates President Tim Clark said given the past and present problems with the B777X programme, he "failed to see how Boeing can make any meaningful forecasts of delivery dates."
Clark also told The Air Current that unless Boeing can secure additional capital through a rights issue, "I see an imminent investment downgrade with Chapter 11 looming on the horizon." Boeing has since secured credit of USD10 billion from lenders and has also announced plans to issue up to USD25 billion in shares or debt over the next three years in order to address ongoing operational woes.
Emirates undisclosed buyer of additional B777Fs
Despite Emirates' apparent displeasure with Boeing, Reuters reports it has recently ordered additional B777-200Fs to add to its existing 12-strong fleet. The news agency says Emirates is the undisclosed buyer of some of the B777Fs recently added to Boeing's public order data. The order, forming part of the 11 additional freighters added to Boeing's order backlog but not linked to a specific airline, was signed before the OEM announced the latest delay in B777X deliveries.
First A350-900 in November
Regarding Emirates' sole Airbus order, Al Redha said the first of sixty-five A350-900s is now due to arrive in November and will initially be deployed onto the Dubai - Edinburgh city pair. Service entry was originally slated for August but was delayed until September and then until November.
"The aircraft is in the final stages of testing, and things are going in the right direction," Al Redha said. "When the aircraft comes, it's going to take over the Edinburgh flights, and later on, when we receive more of the aircraft we will do more destinations in India and some more in the Gulf."
