Boeing lands largest single order in dollar terms
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates —
Dubai's fast-growing airline Emirates kicked off the Middle East's biggest airshow Sunday with a huge order for 50 Boeing 777s, marking the U.S. aircraft maker's biggest-ever single order in dollar terms.
Emirates and Boeing Co. valued the unexpectedly large deal for an extended range version of the 777-300 at $18 billion - the total by list price - though the carrier is unlikely to pay that much. Airlines typically negotiate big discounts, especially when buying in bulk.
Emirates has an option to buy another 20 777s as part of the order. That would push the deal's face value to $26 billion.
The deal further establishes Emirates as Boeing's best customer for the twin-engine 777, a workhorse of the carrier's long-haul fleet.
Emirates has 95 777s in service and already had another 40 on the order books. That means it now has nearly as many of the twin-aisle planes on order as it operates.
"The 777 has really served Emirates very well in terms of the seat cost, especially when we see that the fuel price today is very high," Emirates Chairman and CEO Sheik Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said in announcing the deal.
Earlier this month, Emirates posted a profit of $225 million for the first half of its fiscal year. That was a 76 percent decline from what it made during the same period a year earlier, a drop it linked in part to soaring fuel prices.
Although the Gulf airlines are the among the world's most ambitious in expanding their fleets and routes, a deal the size of the Emirates contract had not been expected at the airshow, which began Sunday. It and rivals such as Abu Dhabi-based Etihad and Qatar Airways have a massive backlog of planes already on order.
Chicago-based Boeing Co. said the deal is the largest single aircraft order in dollar terms in its history.