ATW Daily News Expanding Emirates still considering 747-8I Monday August 4, 2008
Emirates President Tim Clark is leaving the door open for the 747-8I, which he termed an "excellent aircraft."
Commenting in the context of EK's weight reduction program on the A380 designed to give it more range for US West Coast operations (see story above), Clark said Boeing is working on some innovations for the -8I to meet the Emirates performance requirements. "We are still looking at the 747-8I," he confirmed. "A lot depends on our expansion plans relating to the completion of Al-Maktoum International Airport at Jebel Ali in Dubai."
He said that once the six-runway airport with capacity for 120 million passengers per year is completed, restrictions on expansion will not be a limiting factor. "If that airport opens as planned, the 747-8I is in contention." JXB is on schedule.
Boeing has been striving to woo Emirates for an order for the passenger version of the 747-8 ever since it placed an order for up to 20 freighter versions at the 2006 Farnborough Airshow after canceling A380Fs
(ATWOnline, Oct. 10, 2006). However, when Boeing increased the length of the Intercontinental to that of the -8F for commonality and to meet demands for higher passenger count, Dubai-US West Coast performance became marginal
(ATWOnline, Nov. 15, 2007). Clark added that another issue has been installing "A380 features" on the -8I, but apart from the shower that "may not be a problem."
He also is pressing for an upgrade of the 777-300ER that he forecasts would be up to 10% more fuel efficient. He dubs the new model the -300ERX. "Boeing is looking at a range of improvements to materials, weight, engines and aerodynamics that would give up to a 10% improvement in SFC," he told
ATWOnline. The -300ERX would counter the promised brochure performance of the A350-1000, which Clark said still is being finalized. He said a performance improvement on the -300ER, which he called a "really beautiful aircraft," will occur before any replacement of the 777, which he sees coming in the 2020-25 timeframe.
Boeing has been weighing its response to the A350 for some time while balancing the need to wait for hard performance numbers from the 787 structural test program and the flight test program that should get underway in early November. Some airlines and leasing companies have called for a slight stretch but Clark said the 777-300ER capacity is perfect for EK.
by Geoffrey Thomas 
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