NICHOLAS IONIDES / SINGAPORE
Emirates is closing on a deal with Boeing to lease six ex-Singapore Airlines (SIA) Airbus A340-300s to meet capacity needs until the UAE carrier's first 777-300ERs arrive.
If the deal is concluded, deliveries would begin before the end of this year. The aircraft would be leased until March 2005, when the carrier's first leased 777-300ER is due to arrive. Emirates declines to comment.
Boeing confirms that it is in discussions with the carrier over the short-term lease of ex-SIA A340-300s. It stresses that a deal has not been finalised, and 10 ex-SIA A340-300s are still being advertised for sale or lease on its website.
Emirates is in the middle of an aggressive expansion. At the Paris air show in June it confirmed the lease of 26 extended-range 777-300ER twinjets from GE Capital Aviation Services and International Lease Finance. At the show, Emirates also announced follow-on orders for other Airbus aircraft: 20 A340-500/600s and 21 A380s.
The carrier needs additional long-haul aircraft in the immediate future to support its ongoing route expansion. Some of the A340-300s are expected to be used, for example, for extra services to Australia.
Boeing agreed in 1999 to buy all 17 of SIA's A340-300s - including two not built - in a controversial deal related to the purchase of 10 777-200ERs.
Source: Flight International
