Sheikh Ahmed: China’s Boeing rejects won’t fly for Emirates

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Emirates Airline’s chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum has downplayed speculation that the carrier could buy Boeing planes originally destined for China.

Speaking at the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai on Tuesday, Sheikh Ahmed said Emirates was actively exploring options to expand its fleet, but the Boeing aircraft – ordered by Chinese carriers but cancelled as trade tensions escalate between Beijing and Washington – were unlikely to find a new home in the UAE.

“If you think about those aircraft, they were supposed to be going to China, so we expect that they will be in whatever airline’s fit-out – seats, look, you name it,” he said.

“Boeing will not sell it for half the price. If we talk about market price, taking this aircraft, stripping this aircraft, retrofitting – it will be a bit expensive.”

He added that Emirates maintains high standards for cabin consistency and brand identity. 

“For me, if I will operate any aircraft as Emirates, it’s got to be Emirates-themed. I cannot expect that I just put an aircraft [in service] to put people on without my systems.”

Boeing is trying to reallocate 50 aircraft earmarked for Chinese airlines as geopolitical tensions deepen and its backlog gets longer. The US planemaker has more than 5,600 unfulfilled orders valued at approximately $545 billion, according to company data.

Earlier this week, Riyadh Air CEO Tony Douglas said the Saudi startup carrier would be ready to buy the planes that had been bound for China.

Emirates, the world’s largest operator of widebody aircraft, has 314 jets on order, including 240 Boeing passenger planes and 61 Airbus A350-900s. It is also awaiting delivery of 13 Boeing 777 freighters.

Its first A350-900 arrived in November and it expects up to 13 more to join the fleet by the end of the year.

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An Emirates aircraft order is expected to be announced at the Dubai Airshow taking place in November, but Sheikh Ahmed offered few details. “We are thinking along those lines,” he said.

It remains unclear whether that order will include the Airbus A350-1000, a variant Emirates has been assessing. 

Tim Clark, the airline’s president, has previously expressed concerns about the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines that power the A350-1000, particularly with regard to reliability and maintenance.

“We’ve looked at it, but no decision has been made,” Sheikh Ahmed said.

Emirates is due to release its annual financial results in May. Sheikh Ahmed said the company was looking at another “record performance”.