Emirates (EK, Dubai International) has announced it has firmed up an order with Boeing (BOE, Washington National) for thirty B787s during the ongoing Dubai Airshow 2019, converting a part of a pre-existing order for B777X.
In a statement, the Dubai-based carrier said the contract stemmed from a previous Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), signed in 2017, covering forty B787-10s. However, this revised order entails thirty B787-9s, deliveries of which will run from May 2023 through 2028.
Emirates said that by converting a part of its order for 150 B777X to B787s, it had reduced its backlog for the B777s to 126 units - a number that presumably includes six B777-300(ER)s and 120 B777X. While Emirates had six B777-300(ER)s, thirty-five B777-8s, and 115 B777-9s on order from Boeing prior to this announcement, it now says it has yet to decide on the exact type make-up of the revised order.
Given delays in the type's certification and service-entry dates, Emirates said it will enter into discussions with Boeing over the next few weeks on the status of its B777X deliveries. However, it said it remained committed "to the Boeing 777x programme" and looked forward to "its entry into service".
It is recalled that earlier this week, the carrier also committed to ordering fifty A350-900s from Airbus while dropping plans, at least for now, for forty A330-900s.
According to the ch-aviation fleets module, Emirates' current fleet entails 113 A380-800s, ten B777-200(LR)s, 134 B777-300(ER)s, eleven B777-F, and a single A319-100ACJ. It also has existing orders for a further fifty A380s, of which only ten will be delivered.
