Emirates to upgrade aircraft as Boeing deliveries remain stalled
President Tim Clark outlines growth plans. telling reporters that refitting 220 planes is critical to maintaining reputation among industry's best
Emirates President Tim Clark. (Getty Images)
Waiting impatiently on the tarmac for troubled Boeing to deliver its long-delayed 777X aircraft, Dubai’s Emirates airline plans to spend $5 billion on upgrading its current stock.
Emirates President Tim Clark outlined the UAE carrier’s 2025 growth plans on Wednesday and told reporters that refitting 220 planes was critical to maintaining the airline’s standing among the best in the industry.
“We have no choice,” Clark said, ticking off the names of competing airlines that are upgrading their fleets. He said Emirates is not optimistic about the Boeing 777X deliveries arriving as scheduled for this coming October.
While Boeing struggles, industry-leading Airbus is pushing for a closer relationship with the UAE, rolling out plans to manufacture components and establish a regional maintenance hub in Abu Dhabi for its A400M military transport aircraft.
Elsewhere in the Gulf, Qatar Airways is addressing renewed demand from Syria by increasing the frequency of flights to Damascus as the country emerges from more than a decade of civil war, Bloomberg reports.
Most airlines halted flights to the Syrian capital while violence flared across the country. Qatar Airways was the first national carrier to relaunch flights to Beirut after a cease fire was reached between Israel and Lebanon in November.