Emirates aims for 120 A380s... See Reuters Article

[johnsonrod]

If you have Airbus time, and you want to fly the world's biggest airliner, you might want to consider EK as an option. You certainly won't get a chance to fly this big boy anywhere else:

http://www.airliners.net/photo/Emir...41762/L/&sid=f6b459bc5ba10ce5da4db6eacc1a2eb3

See the story below:

Market Movers
Emirates eyes 120 A380s, works with Boeing on 777
Tue, Oct 12 10:56 AM EDT
DUBAI, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Dubai carrier Emirates [EMIRA.UL], the Arab world's largest airline, aims to have 120 Airbus (EAD.PA) A380s when new airport space is available and is working with Boeing (BA.N) on the next generation of 777 jets.

Emirates, whose passengers are growing at 20 percent annually and expects to maintain this level for the next five years, will fulfill all its 90 orders so far for the A380 superjumbo, President Tim Clark told Reuters in an interview.

"We would like some more but we are going to run short of space," he said. "120 was the baseline figure that the planners worked to get where we needed to be, but we couldn't order that amount because it was too many for here so 90 was a compromise."

The carrier will order more when it gets additional space at its home base in Dubai, he added.

The target implies a future Emirates order for 30 of the world's largest airliner, worth $10 billion at list prices, at an unspecified date. If the airline went ahead with its growth plans it would have an A380 fleet worth over $40 billion.

Emirates, already by far the biggest customer for A380, announced a record $11 billion order for 32 superjumbos at the Berlin Air Show in June.
At July's Farnborough Air Show, Emirates also ordered 30 Boeing (BA.N) 777-300ER wide-body planes, a deal worth potentially more than $9 billion. [ID:nWEA0008]

Clark said the airline is collaborating with Boeing to find a solution for the manufacturer's wide-body 777 aircraft, but said he could not share more details.

"We are working with Boeing on the next generation of 777. We are still very interested in a replacement," he said. Boeing has said it is looking at the future of the aircraft which faces competition from the future Airbus A350-1000. (Reporting by Tamara Walid; Editing by Tim Hepher)

 

[WYOMINGPILOT]

This kind of growth will lead to the demise of EK within 5-7 years. The whole Middle East aviation industry is built on a fragile "Glass House" which is about to shatter. Emirates could not even fill an A-380 to JFK let alone 120 -380s. Flying around empty airplanes or low value priced seats is a recipe for economic disaster. Emirates will get desperate for new markets which most countries will not allow true open skies and fifth freedom rights and beyond. These pipe dream growth projections cannot be sustained at these levels. The Middle East cannot effectively tap into over half of the world travelers in N. America because of the hub location. If you live in Europe and want to go to N. America, the Middle East is a long ways out of your way.

 

[Hamburger]

These pipe dream growth projections cannot be sustained at these levels.

No way! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/mos...lion-dream-build-The-World-falling-apart.htmlUAE is totally in touch with reality.

They'll have A380 Service to every corner of the world.

 

[johnsonrod]

This kind of growth will lead to the demise of EK within 5-7 years. The whole Middle East aviation industry is built on a fragile "Glass House" which is about to shatter. Emirates could not even fill an A-380 to JFK let alone 120 -380s. Flying around empty airplanes or low value priced seats is a recipe for economic disaster. Emirates will get desperate for new markets which most countries will not allow true open skies and fifth freedom rights and beyond. These pipe dream growth projections cannot be sustained at these levels. The Middle East cannot effectively tap into over half of the world travelers in N. America because of the hub location. If you live in Europe and want to go to N. America, the Middle East is a long ways out of your way.

Both India and China have booming economies with rising numbers of middle class people (many of whom have never flown before). I think I read that several billion people live within 5 hours of Dubai (maybe not the exact number - but close). EK could replace all of their current 777s serving the US with A380s and then cut their rates to fill them. Who knows...

The CEO mentioned that each and every A380 currently on order (90) is "spoken for." Not sure what he means but I think they have a plan...

 

[Varmint]

This kind of growth will lead to the demise of EK within 5-7 years. The whole Middle East aviation industry is built on a fragile "Glass House" which is about to shatter. Emirates could not even fill an A-380 to JFK let alone 120 -380s. Flying around empty airplanes or low value priced seats is a recipe for economic disaster. Emirates will get desperate for new markets which most countries will not allow true open skies and fifth freedom rights and beyond. These pipe dream growth projections cannot be sustained at these levels. The Middle East cannot effectively tap into over half of the world travelers in N. America because of the hub location. If you live in Europe and want to go to N. America, the Middle East is a long ways out of your way.

How much money have you spent on tickets aboard Emirates out of JFk or anywhere on one of their 380s? How do you know for sure if they are or are not filling the airplanes up, this is not public information.

Just to let you know, not all of aviation is based around the US traveller. There are plenty of other nationalities that visit the US whom use Emirates to travel on. The service level, crew appearance level, and quality of the product just can't be matched by US carriers right now.

 

[tyuwerty]

WYpilot,

Why do these expansion plans need to hinge on bringing passengers to the USA?

Is there no traffic between Asia and Europe that might be served? Not everyone wants to travel to JFK.

Half of the world's travellers??? I would like to see some stats on that... Many may travel in the USA, but a $69 flight to FLL is hardly in the same category as an Oslo to BKK.

 

[johnsonrod]

Just read an article discussing how Dubai is strategically located from a geographic standpoint to connect North America and Europe with the Middle East and Asia. How do Persians or Indians get from the West Coast of the US back to Iran or to India or to Sri Lanka? They can go one stop through Dubai from LAX and SFO. Emirates will make it easier to get to anywhere within a 5 hour radius of Dubai - and we are talking about a huge population base.

Are there enough passengers to feed 120 A380s? Not sure. Many of those could replace older A330/40s and 777s. Dubai will need a new airport (one is already in the works - I think it is supposed to operate 5 parallel 12K foot runways and will open in 5-7 years) and it will need to make airfares a bit cheaper to access the larger market. With Dubai's money and its strong intent to become a logistics/trading capital of the world, I wouldn't count them out...

 

[blade230]

Dubai doesn't have any money. They are broke. The UAE (Abu Dhabi), however, does have money.

 

[WYOMINGPILOT]

No way! UAE is totally in touch with reality.

Dubai is almost bankrupt and relies upon Abu Dhabi for financial support. The Glass house in Dubai is starting to shatter.

 

[WYOMINGPILOT]

Both India and China have booming economies with rising numbers of middle class people (many of whom have never flown before). I think I read that several billion people live within 5 hours of Dubai (maybe not the exact number - but close).

People from China will never fly the wrong way back to Dubai then travel to the US. I don't dispute the numbers of people but these 2 billion people will never be able to fly and fill 120 A-380s. The entire North Anerican market constitutes 50% of all Air traffic. The location of Dubai does not fit for air traffic to/from the N. American markets and most European markets. Take a look at Dubai on the map and then think about East coast traffic to Europe or west coast traffic to Asia. Dubai doesn't fit this and 50% of all air traffic is N. American air travelers. I don't think most N. American countries will sign open sky agreements with Dubai or approve fifth freedom rights or beyond.