Emirates won’t make big plane order at Dubai Air Show, says president

Emirates is studying variants of Boeing’s 787 and Airbus’s A350 and won’t make a decision on a potential order before next year, Emirates president Tim Clark said.

His comments on Sunday dispelled speculation of an order during the Dubai Airshow in November. During the last show two years ago, the airline placed record-breaking orders for 50 A380s, of which it is the largest operator, and 150 777X jets.

Emirates is weighing the 787-9 and -10 variants against the A350-900 and -1000.

The 787-10 can’t efficiently lift the payload “at the distances that we’d want beyond about eight hours,” Mr Clark told reporters in Dubai, adding that 85 per cent of the airline’s flights are shorter than eight hours.

“The A350-900 can go for 14 hours, so we’re trying to balance which is more suitable for us, bearing in mind we have the 777Xs coming,” he said.

Asked whether Emirates plans to announce plane orders at the upcoming air show, Mr Clark said “basically not.”

“We’ve got to talk to the manufacturers about the numbers we need and the prices that we’re prepared to offer,” he said. “We haven’t decided any of that yet.”