Emirates' bets high on Boeing 777 family

Dubai - Airline's 777 aircraft fleet tops 859,000 flights since 1996.

Boeing's 777 family is backbone of the world's largest international airline Emirates growing fleet and its US operations and record $93 billion order book for 777 aircraft support the American economy and jobs, analysts and latest report say.
The Dubai-based world's largest operator of the US-built Boeing 777 family aircraft celebrated the fleet completing over 859,000 flights while logging over 4,720,000 flight hours since its first delivery in 1996.
On September 3, Emirates and Boeing marked the 150th Emirates 777 delivery milestone, with a triple delivery of two Boeing 777-300ERs and one Boeing 777 Freighter. In 2015, the airline so far received 14 new aircraft including nine A380s, four Boeing 777-300Ers and one Boeing 777 Freighter.
Emirates 147-strong Boeing 777 fleet criss-crosses the globe, currently serving 98 destinations on six continents. These staggering operating milestones underscores Emirates' long-term commitment to the Boeing 777 programme and its contribution to aerospace manufacturing and related jobs in the US.
"Emirates' approach to global air travel has created substantial additional demand for US-made aircraft and engines, and benefited millions of travellers," said Sir Tim Clark, President of Emirates.
Emirates' multi-billion dollar investment in the Boeing 777 programme over the past 19 years, with committed deliveries for the next decade, continue to support jobs and innovation in the US aerospace manufacturing supply chain. Including its record-setting order in November 2013 for 150 GE-powered Boeing 777Xs, Emirates currently has an order book of 196 Boeing 777s valued at $93 billion at list prices. "The Boeing 777 makes up the majority of our fleet, and gives us the range and flexibility to provide non-stop services to almost any city within a 16- hour flying range of our hub in Dubai. Our orders for these efficient jets have come on the back of our steady growth in the US and globally," Sir Clark said.

Saj Ahmad, chief analyst at London-based Strategic Aero Research, said Emirates leads the way on 777 operations, having a bigger fleet than many of its rivals such as Cathay Pacific, British Airways, United Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Turkish Airlines and Air France but to name a few. "It's not surprising that Emirates has notched up such an impressive number of flights when you consider that it is the world's biggest 777 customer and operator - and the only 777 customer to have operated all six models of the 777 family to date," Ahmad told Khaleej Times.
Including the most recent deliveries, the total number of aircraft in the Emirates fleet stands at 238 with an average age of 6.5 years, representing one of the youngest fleets in the skies. The airline has 270 additional aircraft on order, worth a total of $129 billion at list prices. Its order book includes 46 boeing 777-300 ERs, 115 Boeing 777-9Xs, 35 Boeing 777-8Xs and 74 Airbus A380s. The airline is also a world's largest operator of the A380s and currently has 66 superjumbos in its fleet.
Supporting American jobs
The US Department of Commerce estimates that 5,359 US jobs are created for every one billion dollars in value of US export goods. On this basis, Emirates' bulk order of the Boeing 777s alone supports over 400,000 new American jobs.
Emirates' support for innovations in aircraft technology and commitment to bulk purchases of new aircraft models have given Boeing the market certainty it needed to make these world-shrinking technological advances such as ultra-long range aircraft like the Boeing 777-200LR and 777-300ER which are capable of flying non-stop for sixteen hours.
"We are proud to connect US cities to tourism and trade opportunities in destinations across Asia, Africa and the Middle East which were previously underserved by direct air transport links. It's clearly a win-win situation when our investments in US-made technology together with our global operations, help to support US jobs and strengthen American prosperity," Sir Clark said.
With its launch of daily services to Orlando (Florida), on September 1, Emirates now serves 10 US gateways, providing international connections for business and leisure travellers into these airports and their surrounding regions/economies.
In an analysis by aviation experts Campbell-Hill Aviation Group, it has been demonstrated that Emirates supports 3,975 US jobs with each of its US daily flights, and the employees holding these jobs earn $161 million per year.
The Greater Orlando Aviation Authority has noted that Emirates' new daily Orlando-Dubai non-stop flight, using the Boeing 777-200LR aircraft, will generate more than $100 million in new annual economic activity and support nearly 1,500 jobs.
Furthermore, Emirates' operations bring an estimated total of $2.9 billion in economic value to New York, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago and Orlando airports and surrounding areas according to economic impact studies from these respective airports and regions.
With 147 units in service, Ahmad said Emirates is expanding its 777 fleet faster than any other operator.
"The airline has a huge backlog of 150 new 777-8 and 777-9 jets to arrive starting from the summer of 2020 to replace the current fleet. It's expected that Emirates will almost certainly need another 150 more 777X's to expand its entire fleet as the organic expansion of Emirates continues," he said.
Boosting US exports
Emirates also helps support the US export market, with its growing network connecting more of the United States to key markets in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. During Emirates' most recently completed fiscal year -- April 1, 2014 to March 31, 2015 - the airline carried 120,320 tonnes of cargo from the US to different parts of the world.
As of May 2015, Emirates had already transported more than 27,900 tonnes of cargo. Emirates' Boeing 777 fleet has been instrumental in helping to transport this cargo, not only through its belly-hold capacity on passenger flights, but also via dedicated freighter services. The airline's all-Boeing freighter fleet comprises thirteen Boeing 777Fs and two Boeing 747Fs.
- muzaffarrizvi@khaleejtimes.com