Emirates Orders 32 More A380s

Emirates has placed an order with Airbus for an additional 32 A380 aircraft taking the total firm order for the super-jumbos to 90. The order for the additional aircraft has a list price of US$ 11.5 billion (AED 42.2).

“This latest order, adding to 58 A380s previously ordered, affirms Emirates’ strategy to become a world leading carrier and to further establish Dubai as a central gateway to worldwide air travel. The A380 is our flagship in terms of passenger comfort, innovation, operating and environmental efficiency and revenue generation,” said His Highness (H.H.) Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group. “Our latest commitment signals Emirates’ confidence in the growth to come in a thriving aviation sector as we build our fleet for tomorrow.”

Emirates, the second largest airline in the world in available seat kilometres, is on track to become one of the largest airlines in the world. In addition to this latest order, Emirates has 48 Airbus 380s, 70 Airbus 350s, 18 Boeing 777-300s and 7 Boeing air freighters on order totaling 143 wide-body aircraft worth more than US$ 48 billion.

 In a year where the aviation industry was rocked by the economic downturn, Emirates Airline recently reported its 22nd year of profit, up 416% to close at US$ 964 million (AED 3.5 billion) over its 2008-09 profits of US$ 187 million (AED 686 million).

From the delivery of its first A380 in July 2008, to receiving its 10th A380 on 7 June 2010 from the Airbus plant in Hamburg, Emirates is now serving eight international destinations with the super-jumbo aircraft including London Heathrow, Toronto, Paris, Jeddah, Bangkok, Seoul, Sydney and Auckland.

 The airline will start A380 services to Beijing from 1 August, Manchester from 1 September and will return service to New York’s John F. Kennedy (JFK) airport on 1 October.

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