Doha: Emirates would be ready to start taking delivery on a more efficient Airbus A380 — the A380neo (new engine option) — by the end of the decade, the airline’s President, Tim Clark, said on Monday. He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the International Air Transport Associaton (IATA) Annual General Meeting in Doha, Qatar.
Emirates is the largest superjumbo operator with 50 A380s in its fleet and a total of 140 on order. Its home airport, Dubai International, has a dedicated A380 terminal.
Clark said if Airbus could deliver by 2019/2020 he would be interested in up to a 100 new A380neos over the 10 years to meet fleet replacement and expansion needs.
He, however, said this is partly dependent on the development of Dubai’s new airport Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central.
Emirates is asking European plane manufacturer, Airbus, to develop a more fuel-efficient A380 that will substantially bring down the operating costs of the superjumbo. This could be through a new engine offering from Rolls-Royce or a new engine option such as rival maker GE which is behind the Boeing 777X engines.
Having declared Dh3.3 billion ($887 million) in net profit for 2013, Emirates had a 10 per cent increase in its fuel bill last year to Dh30.7 billion.
The comments from Clark follow a string of other reports where Emirates has outlined its desire for the new aircraft.
Clark said he is “very keen” that the A380neo is developed.
The Dubai government is developing a superhub airport in the south of the emirate along the Abu Dhabi border. The airport could handle as many as 200 million passengers a year, according to previous comments for Dubai Airport chief Paul Griffiths.
Qatar Airways, Wizz Air, Jazeera Airways and a number of other airlines already operate flights from the new airport.
However, a decision has not been made on when, or if, Emirates will move to the new airport. Clark said that it is a decision for the government. He added that however, if it [Emirates] was to move it would be “in the next decade”.
