Emirates President Sir Tim Clark remains interested in the Airbus A350-1000, via comments made at the IATA AGM in Dubai.
This adds another chapter in a saga that started off at the Dubai Air Show last November.
Without further ado, let’s get into it…
Emirates & The Airbus A350…
Emirates’ relationship with the A350 began back in November at the Dubai Air Show.
Throughout the week, there was a lot of speculation that an order of the aircraft type would be made for both the -900 and -1000.
However, the airline only ended up ordering 15 of the -900s amid concerns with Rolls Royce over durability of the XWB-97 engines in hot and dusty environments.
At the air show, Boeing came out on top with Emirates, with the airline ordering an additional 90 777X aircraft.
The A350-900s are starting to come out of the flightline in Toulouse, with the first to be delivered in September this year.
It is understood that by March 2025, 10 units of the variant will be in the fleet.
Initial routes of the aircraft type are expected to be to:
- Bahrain
- Kuwait
- Muscat
- Mumbai
- Ahmedabad
- Colombo
- Lyon
- Bologna
- Edinburgh
So with this aircraft type, it is very much the case of hitting the ground running from Delivery #1 in September.
Clark Remains Interested in the -1000: Order at Farnborough to Come?
As per @rschuur_aero, Emirates President Sir Tim Clark has expressed his interest in the Airbus A350-1000 once again.
It is understood he will be meeting with Rolls Royce at the Farnborough Air Show next month to discuss the durability improvements on the XWB-97 engine, which powers the -1000.
Furthermore, if the improvements are to the standard Clark is expecting, this could be good news for Airbus.
It could potentially mean seeing an order for the -1000 from the UAE carrier.
Rolls Royce did accept certain problems with durability, but have committed to rectify the issues at hand.
Such issues with the Rolls Royce engines from the Emirates point of view on the A350 could have resulted in the initial announcement consisting of just 15 jets, instead of a potential for 35.
An article from Air Data News stated that Airbus had accidentally released art featuring both the A350-900 and the -1000, with an order for 15 of the -900 and 20 of the -1000.
Overall…
In conclusion, it is a step in the right direction for Airbus that Emirates are still interested in the A350-1000.
Providing the conversations with Rolls Royce go well at Farnborough next month, we could see a top-up order made.
If this is the case, then this will be positive news for the European planemaker who are wanting to sell more of the A350 flagship.
But for now, all eyes will be on how the conversations go, and whether an order will come through in July.
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