BOEING is under increased pressure to meet Qantas’s demands for a new version of its 787 Dreamliner after Emirates opted for the rival Airbus A350-1000 as part of a massive $US35 billion ($39 billion) order for up to 143 planes.
The Dubai-based carrier’s huge order includes 50 firm orders for A350-900s and 20 for the bigger A350-1000s, as well as options for another 50 900s.
The airline also firmed up orders on eight double-decker A380s and added another three, bringing total firm orders to 58, and signed contracts for 12 Boeing 737-300ERs.
Emirates and Qantas have both been pushing Boeing to develop a 350-seat version of the 787, the 787-10, with enough range to carry a full payload from Melbourne to the US west coast, a goal Airbus said it was pursuing with the similarly sized A350-1000.
Both aircraft will use composite materials, improved aerodynamics and more efficient engines to significantly reduce fuel burn per passenger.
At the rollout of the 787 earlier this year, Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon warned the US manufacturer that the flying kangaroo, the biggest airline customer for the Dreamliner, would opt for the A350-1000 if it failed to outline its plans for the 787-10 by next year.
The airline’s chief financial officer, Peter Gregg, said yesterday that the Emirates order would definitely put extra pressure on Boeing to respond.
“At this point in time Boeing hasn’t responded to what we wanted in a 787-10,” he said.
“But, again, I think Boeing have their own set of problems with the -800 and trying to get it all in line. What they said to me last time I talked to them was they didn’t want to get into that discussion until they had the -800 up and running and the -900 finalised.”
Mr Gregg said the airline was still some time away from making a decision on the A350 but it was “certainly reviewing its potential”.
Qantas has already ordered 65 787s – the first was due to arrive next August but has been delayed because of production problems – and has options and purchase rights on 50 more.
A Qantas deal would be a further coup for Airbus, which has also sold A350s to Singapore Airlines.
Also imminent at Qantas is a decision on a big order for narrow-body aircraft.
The carrier has been looking at rationalising its narrow-body fleet. It is understood that a proposal is ready to go before the board.
Meanwhile, Emirates’ latest order allows it to forge ahead with its plans to expand into the world’s biggest international airline. Its total order book now stands at 246 wide-body aircraft worth more than $US60 billion at list prices.
Emirates chairman Sheik Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum said the airline was already well ahead of its 2003 plan to have 100 aircraft by 2010.
Source: The Australian
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November 15, 2007 at 1:15 am