Emirates orders aircraft worth over $50B from Boeing

Long-haul carrier Emirates opened the Dubai Air Show with a $52 billion purchase of Boeing Co. aircraft, Report informs referring to AP.

Its low-cost sister airline, FlyDubai, followed up with an $11 billion order of 30 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, the first wide-body aircraft in its fleet. Both sales together marked a significant win for the Virginia-based Boeing Co. out of the gates on the first day of the air show, as airlines appear poised for even more billion-dollar deals this year.

Emirates made the announcement witnessed by the crown prince of Dubai, Sheikh Hamad bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, at a news conference. Emirates CEO and Chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said the deal would see the carrier purchase 90 Boeing 777 aircraft, 55 of them its 777-9 variants and 35 of them 777-8s.

Emirates will also add an additional five aircraft 787 Dreamliners to a previous order of 30 aircraft, Sheikh Saeed said.

“This is a long-term commitment that supports hundreds of thousands of jobs, not only at Boeing but also throughout the global aviation supply chain,” he said. “The 777 is at the center of Emirates' strategy to connect cities on all continents nonstop to Dubai.”

Emirates officials stressed that FlyDubai’s order was separate from the long-haul carrier. It represents a major change for FlyDubai, which to this point has only flown Boeing 737 single-aisle aircraft on shorter distances.