News
SAUDIA takes maiden B787 and Emirates soon to receive aircraft valued at $14.5 billion
February 5th 2016
Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAUDIA) this week took delivery of its first three B787-9s, in addition to its twentieth B777-300ER, at a ceremony held at Boeing’s Everett facility. The carrier has eight -9s on order from Boeing. Read More » Four will be delivered this year and the remainder in 2017. The order slots were reserved for Kuwait-based lessor, ALAFCO, before being transferred to SAUDIA in 2010.
Emirates Airline plans to add 37 aircraft to its fleet in the fiscal year beginning April 1 as it adds destinations and increases frequencies across its network. The Dubai carrier will receive 21 A380s and 16 B777-300ERs by March 30, 2017, its CCO, Thierry Antinori, told Bloomberg on Wednesday. The aircraft are worth $14.5 billion at list prices. The UAE carrier plans to retire 26 A330s and A340s during the period, Antinori said, and is continuing to evaluate an order for the A350-900/1000 and/or the B787-9/10.
On Monday, Emirates was named as the world’s most valuable airline brand, by the 2016 Brand Finance Global 500 report, which said the carrier’s brand value grew 17% over the last year, to $7.7 billion.
Emirates has repeated its intention to hire former Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB) flight crew. “There are plans to take up new pilots, including those from MAB, but there are still no details such as the number of MAB pilots or when it will take place,” Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ divisional senior vice-president, strategic planning, revenue optimization and aeropolitical affairs, told reporters. MAB last week retired its B777 fleet.
