Dubai: Emirates Airline has received an official offer from Boeing Co over a planned order of its upgraded 777X jet, though the head of the Dubai-based carrier said on Friday that the two sides still have to thrash out a number of issues. Tim Clark, the airline’s president, said the companies “haven’t locked horns on a contract yet” in a deal that will be closely watched across the industry as Emirates is already the largest operator of the existing 777 twin-aisle jet.
Clark said Boeing is “still a bit aggressive on pricing” for the 777-9X model that Emirates is eyeing as a replacement for “some or all” of its 175 current-model 777 jets, which includes 61 outstanding orders. The 777-9X is the larger of the two models being developed by Boeing and will seat around 400 passengers.
“If we order the 9X, we’ll be ordering a large chunk of them,” he said in an interview.
Boeing officials have said they hope to announce orders for the 777X at the Dubai Air Show in November. Boeing’s board of directors in April gave permission for the plane to be marketed to customers, though hasn’t given the official go-ahead to build the plane.
Clark said he had hoped to announce an order at the upcoming show, but the chance of that “is looking marginal” now.
The executive said he is unhappy that Boeing can only offer a contract that is conditional on board approval, with the manufacturer reserving the right to change specifications of the plane until it secures directors’ blessing. A final green light hinges on Boeing securing enough commitments for the updated jet.
“It bothers me a little bit. By now, they should have given full approval,” Clark said of the board. “After all, they’ve been at it for the best part of three years.”
Clark said he is also upset that Boeing has pushed back the first delivery of the new 777X from around 2018 to after 2020. “We were a little bit miffed,” he said.
A Boeing spokesman declined to comment on talks with Emirates or any other potential 777X customers. He said the “business case is maturing as planned” and is still targeting an official launch by its board later this year, with delivery to airlines “around the end of the decade.”
Still, Clark said the 777X as Boeing now envisions it “is going to be beautiful.” For passengers, “it’s going to be one of the best machines flying.”
Germany’s Deutsche Lufthansa AG recently made a conditional offer for 34 of the 777X jets, which is also subject to Boeing board approval.