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Emirates Airline signs MoU for more A380s
January 19th 2018
Airbus patience and sales efforts paid off this week when Dubai’s Emirates Airline signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the manufacturer for up to 36 additional A380s. Read More »
The agreement was signed on Thursday at the airline’s headquarters in Dubai by HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and CEO of Emirates Airline and Emirates Group, and John Leahy, COO Customers, Airbus Commercial Aircraft. The carrier committed to 20 A380s and 16 options, with deliveries from 2020. The transaction is valued at US$16 billion at list prices.
Sheikh Ahmed said: “We’ve made no secret of the fact that the A380 has been a success for Emirates. Our customers love it, and we’ve been able to deploy it on different missions across our network, giving us flexibility in terms of range and passenger mix.”
“Some of the new A380s we’ve just ordered will be used as fleet replacements. This order will provide stability to the A380 production line. We will continue to work closely with Airbus to further enhance the aircraft and on-board product. The beauty of this aircraft is that the technology and real estate on board gives us plenty of room to do something different with the interiors,” the Emirates’ chief added.
Airbus’ Leahy has once again demonstrated that the impossible is possible. After failing to secure another Emirates A380 order at last year’s Dubai Air Show, many in the industry thought Leahy would retire without a new order for the airplane.
The naysayers were wrong. “I would like to thank Emirates, HH Sheikh Ahmed, Tim Clark and Adel Al-Redha for their continued support of the A380,” Leahy said at Thursday’s order announcement.
“This new order underscores Airbus’ commitment to produce the A380 at least for another ten years. I’m personally convinced more orders will follow Emirates’ example and that this great aircraft will be built well into the 2030s,” Leahy added. Emirates delivery of its 100th A380 was on November 3, last year.
