'Who will listen, will win': Emirates' Sheikh Ahmed says Boeing best placed to make bigger jets

Dubai-based airline's boss says China's Comac wide-body jet is 'too small' for its operations

Boeing is best placed to fulfil Emirates' need for larger planes as it seeks to find a replacement for its Airbus A380 superjumbo, chairman and chief executive Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed has said.

Asked if Boeing is the horse to back in the airline's quest for a successor to the A380, Sheikh Ahmed told The National: "Yes, they are the only one available today."

This comes after Emirates on Monday handed Boeing a $38 billion deal for 65 additional 777X widebody planes, although that series of aircraft faces long delays. The agreement included the possibility of extending the 777-9 version, the so-called 777-10 that has yet to be developed.

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Emirates endorsed the 777-9 with the additional order despite the seven-year delay to the programme as it is the only aircraft that can meet its capacity requirements after the A380s are retired in early 2040.

"They are the only one, as we speak today, in that category of more than 335 seats. This is what we want. We want bigger aircraft," Sheikh Ahmed said.

Emirates, the world's biggest international airline, is also the world's biggest operator of widebody planes, with a fleet of 232 Boeing 777 and A380 aircraft.

While the European company has the technology to develop a larger version of its A350-1000 widebody, both manufacturers must listen to their customers' needs, Sheikh Ahmed said.

"Who will listen, they will win," he said in an interview at the Dubai Airshow on Tuesday.

Emirates refrained from placing an order for the Airbus A350-1000, the planemaker's biggest aircraft in production, as it waits for Rolls Royce to improve the jet engine's durability and performance in the hot and dusty climate of the Gulf.

Emirates would like the engine to stay for a longer time "on-wing", before going to repair shop visits.

"They need to do more to be able to convince us that 'I'm selling you a product that will be staying on the wing, will do the job', and I'm sure they can do it," Sheikh Ahmed said.

Emirates already has 13 of the smaller A350-900 variant in its fleet and it is an "excellent" aircraft, he said.

"I'm sure Airbus will push to see a bigger aircraft that they will build for the airline in the future," Sheikh Ahmed said.

China's Comac at Dubai Airshow

Airbus and Boeing maintain a duopoly over the plane-manufacturing market, dwarfing Brazil's Embraer and Canadian business jet maker Bombardier.

"Let's look at the Brazilian and Canadian [manufacturers] and what they can do in the future, maybe they will be thinking about building those bigger aircraft," Sheikh Ahmed said.

"But don't forget also that the Chinese are coming."

China's plane-maker Comac is entering the fray with ambitions to wrest market share from Boeing and Airbus.

Sheikh Ahmed pointed to China's automotive industry as building "beautiful cars".

The Emirates chairman has visited Comac's exhibition at the Dubai Airshow to look at its C919 jetliner, he said.

"For us to look at it today as Emirates, for us it's too small," Sheikh Ahmed said, referring to the 164-seater narrowbody plane.

The baseline version of Comac's C929 wide-body aircraft accommodates 280 seats, falling short of Emirates' requirements for larger planes.

The IPO question

Sheikh Ahmed on Monday had said that each of Emirates jets on order were “carefully factored” into the airline's expansion plan, which is aligned with Dubai’s growth plans.

Aviation is a major pillar of Dubai’s economic growth as the city continues to pursue an aggressive plan to attract more tourists and increase its connectivity.

Sheikh Ahmed dismissed any possible risks of the airline growing too fast, noting that it is expanding in line with the "market's speed."

The airline posted a 13 per cent increase in record half-year profits after tax to Dh9.9 billion ($2.7 billion) amid “strong and sustained” travel demand across regions that withstood geopolitical turbulence.

Asked if Emirates would consider an initial public offering, Sheikh Ahmed said: "When we think about it, we have two horses now in Dubai, we have Emirates and we have flydubai, both of them are really running fast with the growth of Dubai."

However, he emphasised that any decision regarding a potential IPO is up to the airline's government owner.

Flydubai, Emirates' fast-growing sister carrier, has been investing in premium products and distancing itself from the low-cost model it established when it began operations in June 2009.

Building aircraft seats in Dubai

Separately, Emirates and France's Safran signed an initial pact to establish a manufacturing and seat assembly facility in Dubai, according to an Emirates statement on Tuesday.

The plant will initially focus on Business and Economy class seats for cabin refurbishment projects, with plans to expand to install seats into new aeroplanes.

The facility will serve Emirates and other customers of Safran seats, in a move to address the growing demand for aircraft seat manufacturing, Emirates said.

Emirates and Safran aim to complete the centre by the fourth quarter of 2027 bringing about 20,000 to 25,000 square metres of production space.

The development will be in phases, with the initial assembly of up to 1,000 Business class seats a year.

On Tuesday, Emirates also said its aircraft retrofit programme will enter its next phase, with 60 A380s and 51 Boeing 777s lined up to undergo the airline’s latest cabin upgrades.