Emirates orders 40 A330-900 and 30 A350-900 aircraft

Emirates announced (14-Feb-2019) it ordered 40 A330-900 and 30 A350-900 aircraft from Airbus in a deal valued at USD21.4 billion. The A330neo and A350 aircraft are scheduled for delivery from 2021 and 2024 respectively. Emirates and Airbus also reached an agreement on outstanding A380 deliveries, in which the airline will receive 14 more A380s from 2019 until the end of 2021, taking its total A380 order to 123 units. Emirates Airline and Group chairman and chief executive Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said the new A330neo and A350 aircraft will "complement Emirates' fleet mix", support its "network growth" and grant it "more flexibility to better serve seasonal or opportunistic demand". The airline plans to deploy the A330neo on regional destinations while the A350 will serve the carrier's long haul operations. [more - original PR]