Emirates mulls deferral of B787-order

FlightGlobal is reporting that Emirates is considering the deferral of its B787-order as it wants the manufacturer to focus on the delivery of the delayed B777Xs. According to the airline's CEO, the market has changed significantly when they signed the order for 30 B787-9s in November 2019 and it needs to see if the Dreamliners still fit the future needs of Emirates.

Delivery of the first B787 was scheduled for 2023 but with deliveries postponed by the FAA due to product quality issues, this could now become 2025. Emirates thinks deferring the order would bring "relief for both sides" regarding the contractual obligations Boeing has with Emirates.

To cover the potential capacity gap caused by a B787-deferral, the CEO said the airline is in discussion with Airbus to accelerate and compress the delivery schedule of the 50 A350-900s it has on order. The first of these is scheduled to be delivered in summer 2024 and Emirates wants the order completed within two years.

Emirates has 115 B777Xs (101 B777-9s and 14 B777-8s) on order, making it the largest customer for Boeing's newest variant of the B777. Originally, delivery of the first aircraft should have happened in 2020 but is now delayed to 2025.

Illustration by Emirates.