Industry Emirates signs MoU for 36 additional A380

The agreement was signed this morning at the airline’s headquarters in Dubai by HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group, and John Leahy, Chief Operating Officer Customers, Airbus Commercial Aircraft. The commitment is for 20 A380s and an option for 16 more with deliveries to start in 2020, valued at US$16 billion at latest list prices.

Sheikh Ahmed said: “We’ve made no secret of the fact that the A380 has been a success for Emirates. Our customers love it, and we’ve been able to deploy it on different missions across our network, giving us flexibility in terms of range and passenger mix. He added: “Some of the new A380s we’ve just ordered will be used as fleet replacements. This order will provide stability to the A380 production line. We will continue to work closely with Airbus to further enhance the aircraft and onboard product, so as to offer our passengers the best possible experience.”

Following delivery of its first A380 in July 2008, Emirates took its 100th A380 on the 3rd November 2017 in Hamburg.

In the last weeks, several Airbus managers have announced to further reduce capacity or even cease production of the Airbus A380 if Emirates does not order additional aircraft.

Due to a lack of new orders, Airbus was forced to reduce the production rate to eight aircraft in 2019. During the Paris Air Show, Airbus presented an upgraded version with new winglets called Airbus A380plus.

The new order will be the first order since 2016. Emirates was expected to announce the new order during the Dubai Air Show in November 2017. The meeting was cancelled due to a missing agreement between Airbus and Emirates.