DUBAI, 20 November 2005 — Dubai’s flagship carrier Emirates is expected to announce a major order worth up to $6 billion (5.17 billion euros) for Boeing’s new long-haul 777 aircraft, industry sources said yesterday.
“They will announce a substantial order tomorrow (Sunday),” one source told AFP. “I cannot give an exact figure, but there has been a lot of speculation and I heard talk of around six billion dollars,” said the source.
The deal comes on the eve of a major air show opening in Dubai amid relentless competition by the world’s passengers jet makers for a slice of a booming regional market that has defied surging fuel prices and terror threats. Early yesterday, Boeing’s competitor, Europe’s Airbus Industries, promoted its A380 superjumbo, the world’s biggest passenger jet, with a maiden Middle East flight landing in Dubai.
Emirates will begin to receive the first of its 45 A380s on order in 2007.