Emirates waiting for more A350 in-service performance data.

Emirates, the world’s biggest long-haul airline, said more A350 jets need to enter service before it can run a contest between the Airbus model and Boeing’s competing 787 Dreamliner.

Data bearing out the A350’s in-service performance is especially vital since Emirates scrapped an order for 70 of the planes in 2014 after concluding that they wouldn’t meet the specifications originally promised, President Tim Clark said in a briefing last week at the Dubai Air Show.

Source: Pascal Maillot

Clark plans to weigh the A350-900 and A350-1000 against the biggest 787-10 Dreamliner to see which best meets route requirements that vary in range and capacity.

Source: Paul Marais-Hayer

Emirates is looking to add 50 to 70 jets for regional services, and would contemplate splitting the order between Boeing and Airbus, he said.

 

“People haven’t got a true measure of what this thing will do,” Clark said.

“The ramp-up rate needs to be pushed a bit, it’s taking them forever to get this thing up.”

Source: Pascal Maillot

Emirates Chairman Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum said at a separate briefing that the carrier is contemplating sourcing funds through bonds or Islamic sukuk next year, and that the airline tends to raise between $500 and $1 billion per issue - though it could also use its own cash to finance jet purchases.

Based on the article “Emirates Delays A350 Order Until Airbus Can Prove Jet's Worth” published in Bloomberg.