Emirates (EK, Dubai International) is planning to place a new aircraft order during the Dubai Air Show in November 2025. In an interview with Bloomberg, company's president Tim Clark said that delivery dates remain a challenge for the airline and that any new aircraft carrier orders at the Air Show would likely arrive only in the mid-2030s.
Clark said that the carrier was in the market for A350s and B777Xs. He said that the airline remains committed to the B777X programme, adding that new orders for the type will follow in the future.
Clark separately told Aviation Week that the A350-1000 was "of interest" but Emirates needed more assurances about the durability of the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97.
The carrier currently has 310 jets on order: sixty-two A350-900s, thirteen B777-200Fs, thirty-five B777-8s, fifteen B787-8s, fifteen B787-10s, and 170 B777-9s.
Ongoing delivery delays and a lack of available delivery slots for new orders have forced Emirates to expand its previously announced cabin retrofit programme. The Dubai-based carrier initially planned to invest USD4 billion upgrading its cabins, but the costs have increased to USD5 billion.
By refurbishing the interiors of some in-service B777s and A380s, Emirates hopes to bridge delays with new jets on order. In May 2024, it announced it would expand its retrofits to include 191 aircraft (110 A380s and 81 B777s), up from 120 originally planned.
