Emirates submits record Boeing order

The Dubai Air Show began on Sunday with a record Boeing aircraft order from Emirates.

Travel Insurance News - 14/11/2011

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The locally based state-backed airline announced at the event that it was placing an order for 50 Boeing 777 wide-body aircraft from the US company, marking the largest ever order in terms of dollar value for the jet maker.

Emirates chief executive Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum called the $18 billion (£11.2 billion) deal a milestone said that the 777 had been an effective model for the company as it seeks to expand its long-haul network and compete with European and Asian airlines as an east-west connection specialist via Dubai International Airport.

The new order brings the carrier's total number of 777s on order to 90 following the announcement of a 30-plane, $9.1 billion (£5.7 billion) order at last year’s Farnborough Air Show in the UK. Emirates has also ordered several other aircraft so far at the Dubai Air Show, worth about $8 billion (5 billion).

According to Boeing’s commercial aircraft division president James Albaugh, the massive 777 order will pave the way for thousands of sustained jobs in Seattle and at the other Boeing production facilities in the US. The company delivered 127commercial aircraft during the third quarter, primarily its best-selling 737 model, and said it will fall just a few planes short of its year-end delivery target of 485 jets.

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