Middle Eastern carrier Emirates has revised its previous tentative agreement for Boeing 787s, opting to take 30 of the 787-9 variant rather than the larger 787-10.
Deliveries of the aircraft, worth $8.8 billion, will commence in May 2023 and continue for five years.
The Dubai-based airline had originally indicated, two years ago, that it would order 40 787-10s to be taken from 2022. But the deal was not subsequently firmed and no engine selection was made.
Emirates chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum also stated that its agreement for the 777X would be cut back to 126 aircraft from the previous figure of 150.
Its original 787-10 deal had a conversion right to the 787-9.
But Emirates states that the rejigged deal involved its exercising a “right to substitute” the 777X for 787s, under an agreement with the US airframer.
Emirates’ 777X deal had originally comprised 150 aircraft, a mix of 35 777-8s and 115 777-9s. Boeing’s official figures also indicate that the airline had six outstanding 777-300ERs still to deliver to Emirates.
Boeing says the airline has converted 30 777 orders to 787s, which suggests that the last six 777-300ERs plus 24 777Xs have been swapped for 787-9s.
Al Maktoum says the revised Boeing deal “solidifies” the carrier’s plans to operate both the 777X and the 787.
“This is an important investment and addition to our future fleet and network requirements, providing us the agility, flexibility and spread of seat segments when it comes to overall capacity to serve a range of destinations,” he adds.
Emirates had already similarly restructured – for the second time – a large Airbus fleet deal, having signed for 50 A350-900s at the show. This replaced an earlier provisional agreement for 30 A350s and 40 A330neos which, in turn, succeeded an order for A380s.
Its agreement for the 787-9s, combined with the A350 deal, takes the value of its new orders at the show to $24.8 billion.
While the A350s are exclusively powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines, no powerplant selection has been made for the 787s. But a straight swap of General Electric-powered 777s for 787s might suggest that the 787-9s will ultimately be equipped with General Electric GEnx engines.
