Emirates hopes to get up to five Boeing 777X jets next year, president says

Emirates ​hopes to receive its first 777X widebody ​jets from Boeing at the ‌back ​end of next year, the airline’s President Tim Clark said on Tuesday, after years-long delays to the project.

Emirates and other carriers, including ‌Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines, are eager to get the new jet, Clark said at a media event in Berlin. “We're in discussions about trying to improve the number we're going to get, but it will ‌be between 3 and 5, and in the following year maybe 10,” he said.

“I'm fairly ‌vague about it because, I think, Boeing are fairly vague about it as well, even at this stage,” Clark said. The Dubai-based airline is the world’s largest buyer of widebody jets and has frequently complained about delays to Boeing’s ⁠largest ​model, which the US ⁠planemaker partly attributed to lengthy certification.

On the 777X’s competitor, Airbus’ A350, Clark reiterated his wish to buy a stretched variant, ⁠referred to as A350-2000. “You got to have a bigger aeroplane” than the A350-1000, currently Airbus’ largest plane. “Where (Airbus) are on ​that, I really don't know,” he said. Clark also pointed to his airline's order ⁠of 35 of the smaller Boeing 787 jets, which could be used as a backstop should there be further delays ⁠in ​the 777X programme.

Emirates will probably decide on the 787 in about a month, when it has more clarity on the production of the 777X, Clark said. He suggested that the ordered ⁠787 aircraft could also end up at other airlines. “We’ve got a range of things that we ⁠can do,” he said, ⁠with many airlines and lessors interested.

The Gulf carrier has 270 of the 777X jets and 35 fo 787s on order. Boeing's first 777X ‌variant will be ‌the 777-9.