Emirates undoubtedly stole the show at this year's Dubai Airshow. The host carrier made two order announcements for both the Airbus A350 and the Boeing 787. In the aftermath of this announcement, some have claimed that the A330neo order has been cancelled, however, Emirates has confirmed this is not the case.
In February, Airbus announced the end of the A380 program. Simultaneously, while shrinking its Airbus A380 order, the airline announced a memorandum of understanding for 70 aircraft. 40 Airbus A330-900s and 30 Airbus A350-900s. At the Dubai Airshow, a firm order for 50 Airbus A350-900 aircraft was signed, however, no Airbus A330 order was signed.
Discussions ongoing
Discussions between Emirates and Airbus regarding the A330neo are still ongoing. At a round table discussion attended by Simple Flying, Sheikh Ahmed, Emirates' CEO, told:
"The discussion is still going there. It is on our radar. I don't want to say now I cancelled it or not. Because, you know, still we're talking about it."
Of course, Sheikh Ahmed made these comments on the second of five days at the airshow, before the 787 order was announced on Wednesday. However, Simple Flying spoke with an Emirates representative today who confirmed:
The A330 orders are still part of the discussion, however as per Sheikh Ahmed’s comments, nothing has been firmed up yet.
When will we have an answer?
Beyond the comments from Sheikh Ahmed that discussions are ongoing, it is unclear exactly the progress of negotiations for the Airbus A330neo. While we know that discussions are still ongoing, these discussions will be occurring behind closed doors.
As a result, we don’t know if discussions are going well or not so well. Instead, just that they are going. In fact, we are unlikely to be able to gauge the progress of negotiations until either the order is confirmed or cancelled. Should it be confirmed, some details such as the priced paid for the aircraft will remain under wraps.
Previous Airbus A330 operator
Emirates is a previous operator of the Airbus A330. Before it’s fleet became solely the Airbus A380 and Boeing 777, the airline had a fair fleet of the classic engine option A330.
As opposed to introducing a whole new aircraft type such as the Airbus A350, or Boeing 787, Emirates will already have a feel how the A330 works in their operations. However, given the length of time that Emirates was negotiating the 787, it may be a while before we see movement on the A330neo.
Do you think Emirates should go ahead with its Airbus A330 order? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!