Bloomberg
Emirates, the biggest Arab airline, plans to order more than 12 planes to meet rising demand, Chairman
Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum said.
Passenger traffic at Dubai Airport surged 17 percent in January after growing by 9.2 percent in 2009, which “will push us to buy more aircraft,” Sheikh Ahmed said in an interview at his office at the airport’s Terminal 1 building in Dubai today. “I know that we announced something like 10 to 12 aircraft, but we are maybe looking at more than that number.”
Emirates said in November it would order about 11 new planes and was looking at models from
Boeing Co. and Airbus SAS.
The carrier, the biggest customer for Airbus’ A380 superjumbo with an original order of 58, has also ordered 70 A350s. The airline’s fleet has risen from 131 to 145 since March last year, including eight A380s, it said March 9.
Air traffic in the Middle East grew 11.2 percent in 2009, one of only two regions to post growth amid the industry’s worst slump, the
International Air Transport Association said. Latin American passenger traffic grew 0.3 percent.
Emirates will sell shares in an initial public offering “one day,” although the timing of the sale will be decided by the government and subject to market conditions, Sheikh Ahmed said. It will take the carrier about nine to 12 months to complete preparations for an IPO when the government decides to sell shares in the company, he said.