Abu Dhabi Police has called on drivers to be careful and use alternative routes
uae10 hours ago
Emirates Airline announced on Wednesday that it had cancelled an order for 70 long-haul A350 planes from European manufacturer Airbus.
The decision cuts the order book for the European company’s newest jet, which is due to enter service in around six months’ time, by around 10 percent.
Airbus said it followed a “fleet requirement review” as Emirates shifts towards the large A380 superjumbo, for which it is the biggest customer.
Emirates was among the first buyers for the A350 rival model to Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner when it placed the order for 50 A350-900 and 20 A350-1000 jets in 2007.
The deal was worth around $16 billion at 2007 list prices - or close to $22 billion based on the current catalogue - although launch customers typically negotiate discounts.
Emirates was due to start taking deliveries of the A350 in 2019. The first A350 is due to be delivered to Qatar Airways in the fourth quarter of this year.
“We are confident that we will sell the (production) slots in the coming months,” an Airbus spokesman said. “There’s no impact on the programme as deliveries were scheduled to start at the end of the decade.”
Airbus shares were down 3.3 per cent in early trading in Frankfurt, with the news expected to cast a shadow over two days of briefings for the media at Airbus’ headquarters in Toulouse on Wednesday and Thursday.
Emirates has been pushing for Airbus to upgrade the A380 superjumbo with a more efficient engine, after increasing its total orders for the world’s biggest passenger jet by 50 in November to 140 planes.
The carrier’s chief executive, Tim Clark, said earlier this month that a revamped A380 could have a 10-12 per cent performance improvement and that “we are hoping to move on that pretty soon”.
Emirates is also in the process of firming up an order for 150 of Boeing’s latest jetliner, the 777X mini-jumbo, of which Emirates has ordered 150 worth $76 billion at list prices.
Asked about the A350 order cancellation on Wednesday, an Emirates spokesman said: “The contract which we signed in 2007 for 70 A350 aircraft has lapsed. We are reviewing our fleet requirements.”
Airbus said in a statement that it remained “very confident” in the A350 programme and that it expected the A350 order book to grow in 2014.
Britain’s Rolls-Royce, which is the sole engine maker for the A350, said the Emirates decision would result in a 2.6 billion pound ($4.4 billion) hit to its order book.
“While disappointed with this decision, we are confident that the delivery slots which start towards the end of this decade vacated by Emirates will be taken up by other airlines,” Rolls-Royce said in a statement.
Abu Dhabi Police has called on drivers to be careful and use alternative routes
uae10 hours ago
Official says the bomb blast happened after a militant group demanded extortion money from the group that runs the school
world10 hours ago
He accuses sports bodies of not allowing Russian athletes to perform at the games with the country's banner, flag and national anthem
world11 hours ago
Renowned media and marketing professional to spearhead strategic growth and development initiatives for Dugasta Properties in Dubai
kt network12 hours ago
'Last night, the Israel Defence Forces (army) rescued the bodies of our hostages,' a military spokesman said
mena12 hours ago
TikTok spokesperson says it never shared Canadian user data with the Chinese government
tech12 hours ago
Public asked to increase cyber awareness to protect themselves from falling preys and losing data
uae12 hours ago
The incident occurred when around 180 passengers were onboard; inquiry launched
world13 hours ago