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Emirates Airline may order more A380s in future to meet growing capacity: executive

iht.com

Dubai's Emirates Airline is likely to place more orders in the future for the Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger plane, to meet its expansion plans, a senior executive said Wednesday.

Emirates Airline and Group is Airbus' biggest customer for the massive jet, with 55 A380 planes already on order. It is expected to start taking delivery of the plane in August 2008.

"Fifty-five, so far. There could be more later," Executive Vice Chairman Maurice Flanagan told the Associated Press on the sidelines of an aviation conference in Singapore. He declined to give details.

Flanagan said the airline is expanding its capacity by more than 20 percent a year, and that its rapid growth is likely to continue in tandem with Dubai's increased presence as an aviation hub.

"We see that going on and on in the future," Flanagan said. "It's linked to what's happening in Dubai and the power of Dubai as a global aviation hub whereby we can connect any two points in the world now with one stop only in Dubai."

Flanagan said the 55 planes currently on order would take the airline into 2030. Future orders would depend on any restrictions posed by the handling capacity of the airport in Dubai, which claims to be the world's fastest growing city.

About 29 million passengers passed through Dubai International Airport last year, an increase of 16.2 percent from the previous year.

To cope with the growth, the airport is undergoing a US$4.5 billion (€ 3.1 billion) expansion that will allow it to accommodate 70 million passengers a year by 2009, according to the airport's Web site.

Flanagan said Emirates expected to have 599 "big," or wide-bodied, aircraft in its fleet by 2019 if there were no capacity constraints at the airport. The carrier's fleet comprises only wide-bodied aircraft, and it currently has 110 of them, he said.

Flanagan also said Emirates could afford to fund its own expansion and had no plans for an initial public offering. Reports earlier this week said the airline is seeking a US$20 billion-US$30 billion listing.

"There is no intention for an (initial public offering)," he said. "We are cash-rich with about US$4 billion (€2.7 billion) in the kitty. We can certainly fund our expansion."

 Printable Version  | published Oct 31, 2007