Emirates Buys 30 Boeing 777s to 'Establish Dubai as a Central Gateway' to the World

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(DUBAI, UAE) -- Emirates is continuing its ambition to "further establish Dubai as a central gateway to worldwide air travel," said Sheikh Ahmad bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation and Chief Executive of Emirates Airlines and Group, at a time when many major airlines are bleeding red ink.

He was speaking at the Farnborough International Airshow where he signed contracts for $13.9 billion in aircraft and engine orders. Boeing will supply 30 long range 777-300ER jets for $9.1 billion. This is in addition to 71 Boeing 777s previously ordered by Emirates.

The airline also signed a contract with Engine Alliance, a joint venture between GE and Pratt & Whitney, for GP7200 engines for the 32 Airbus A380 planes ordered last month at the Berlin Air Show. The engine contract is worth $4.8 billion while the Airbus jet contract is worth $11.5 billion.

That means Emirates has committed to spending $25 billion so far this year. Currently, Emirates flies to 103 cities in 63 countries using 150 airplanes. However, an Emirates spokesman, quoted in The National daily newspaper in the UAE today, said, "We made the order because we are short of capacity all the time." He cited Kiev, St.Petersburg, and Chicago as destinations Emirates would like to include in its routes and said that the Emirates has "traffic rights" for more than 80 flights per week to Australia but is able to operate only 70 due to a shortage of aircraft.

Emirates which last year became the world's largest airline by international seating capacity reported its 22nd straight year of profit for 2009-10,  up 416 percent to $964 million. In 2008-09, the profit was $187 million. 

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