Dubai to bring the world closer

Dubai: Emirates' order for 30 Boeing 777s, a twin-engine, long-haul airplane, is part of its plan to build a network that can connect any two destinations with Dubai at the centre, the company said.

"Emirates is the world's largest operator of 777s and this latest order, adding to 71 777-300ERs previously ordered, affirms Emirates' strategy to become a world leading carrier and to further establish Dubai as a central gateway to worldwide air travel," said Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group.

Frost and Sullivan aviation analyst Max Sukkhasantikul, in London, said: "The Boeing 777 is the power horse of Emirates and is the core aircraft type".

"With the expansion plans of Emirates, they have the A350 serving thin markets, A380 serving high demand and slot constrained markets, and the Boeing 777 sitting right in between, serving the majority of Emirates route network," Sukkhasantikul said.

"The Boeing 777-300 class of aircraft is just the right aircraft that Emirates needs to meet their growth plans."

Boeing incorporated several performance enhancements into the 777-300ER to extend its range and payload capabilities.

Engine efficiency improvements and design changes haved reduced drag and weight while contributing to increased capability, the company said.

However, Sukkhasantikul said that if Airbus was capable of confirming the A350-1000 design details in which its operating economics would be better than the Boeing 777-300ER, then Airbus may see increased orders.

Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and chief executive Jim Albaugh said: "The market is clearly coming back and I feel very confident about how we are positioned to regain and retain [our] leadership in this business".

Emirates has said it was looking to capture a much greater share of the international market as it took delivery of new and existing orders of long-haul airplanes, made by Airbus or Boeing.

Last month, it placed an additional order for 32 Airbus 380s — the long-haul widebody superjumbo — taking the total to 90.

In addition to the order placed yesterday, 70 Airbus A350s and seven Boeing freighters were on order.

This totalled 204 wide-body aircraft worth more than $67 billion (Dh246 billion).

In a year when the aviation industry suffered unprecedented losses, Emirates reported its 22nd year of profit, up 416 per cent to $964 million (Dh3.5 billion) over its 2008-09 profits of $187 million (Dh686 million).

Emirates said it would configure its new aircraft in a three-class service.