Powerplant requirements may be packaged together
Engine makers are preparing to compete for what may be the biggest deal of 2002 after Emirates ordered an additional 58 Airbus A380-800s/A330s/A340s and Boeing 777-200/300s.
Emirates had been about to decide on the choice of engine for its previously announced commitment for five A380-800 passenger aircraft and two -800F freighters. The airline has postponed its decision to next year as engine negotiations now encompass the additional 15 A380s and 25 777s.
Rolls-Royce is the incumbent engine supplier to Emirates for its existing fleet of 777s and A330s and planned new A340-600s, but the airline has said it wants to have a competition for the new aircraft. R-R and the General Electric/Pratt & Whitney joint venture Alliance are offering their respective Trent 900 and GP7200 engines for the A380, while the 777 will be a three-way fight between the Trent 800, GE90 and PW4000.
R-R is hoping the airline will combine the 777 and A380 engine decisions, to give it a competitive edge. GE and P&W will legally find it more difficult to link the joint venture GP7200 with either the GE90 or PW4000, and will want separate selections.
The timing of Emirates' first A380 aircraft will also be critical, given that the Trent 900 is the launch engine application for the A380, with the first aircraft scheduled for delivery to Singapore Airlines in March 2006.
Flight testing of the GP7200 on the A380 is currently six months late, with the first Alliance-powered aircraft due for delivery to Air France around September 2006. Emirates plans to receive its first A380 in July 2006.
Emirates' $15 billion order at the show is key to its ambitious plans for a 180% fleet expansion by the end of this decade. The deals were backed by a series of agreements to establish joint venture companies, and a $1 billion plan to expand Dubai International Airport to match the airline's plans.
Emirates ordered:
22 Airbus A380s worth $7 billion. Two will be freighters, and 10 options have been taken; three Airbus A330-200s valued at $415 million; a letter of intent (LoI) for eight Airbus A340-600s worth $1 billion. R-R says the A340-600's Trent 500s will be worth $475 million; a LoI worth $6.6 billion for 25 Boeing 777-200ER/300s for delivery in 2004-10. Older -200s will be phased out leaving a 37-strong 777 fleet by 2010.Airbus chief executive Noel Forgeard says four A380s will be delivered in 2006 and 2007, eight in 2008 and six in 2009.
Despite denials by Airbus that it was supplying Emirates with a new version of the A340-600 with maximum take-off weight increased to 376t, senior industry sources have confirmed last week's Flight International story. Development costs are $500 million and the aircraft will be available in 2005.
Emirates chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum says fleet expansion will meet the government's growth plans for the next 15 years. The airline expects to double passenger figures by 2006, and to add around five routes a year.
Airbus and Emirates followed the aircraft deal by signing a memorandum of understanding to create an aviation services joint venture at Dubai airport, which will specialise in trading used aircraft and unneeded spares as well as airline consultancy. Al Maktoum says the companies will together invest $50 million.
Dubai airport will receive a third terminal beneath the existing apron and taxiways. Two passenger concourses capable of handling A380s will be built - one able to handle 12 super jumbos at once.
Source: Flight International
