(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Airbus has suffered its biggest-ever order cancellation as emirates airline scrapped a deal for 70 a350 wide-bodied aircraft worth $16 billion.
airbus is very confident in its a350 xwb programme. — afp
“the contract which we signed in 2007 for 70 a350 aircraft has lapsed. we are reviewing our fleet requirements” an emirates spokesperson confirmed to khaleej times on wednesday.
in 2007 the dubai-based carrier placed 50 orders for the a350-900 and 20 for the a350-1000 with deliveries due from 2019. the cancellation would also lead to a £2.6 billion hit to rolls-royce order book according to the uk engine maker. investors reacted to this news quickly as airbus shares fell almost four per cent in paris and rolls-royce shares dropped by two per cent in london.
airbus also issued a statement in this regard and said emirates had decided to cancel the order.
“the decision follows on-going discussions with the airline in light of their fleet requirement review as demonstrated by their order of 50 additional a380s at the last dubai airshow and their continuous interest in the programme” the statement added.
emirates’ decision to cancel its entire a350 order is nothing short of a disaster for airbus according to a senior aviation analyst.
“that cancellation of the whole order is a massive blow to airbus who is just a few months away from completing flight tests for the first a350-900 model of which emirates had 50 on order” saj ahmad chief analyst at london-based strategicaero research said.
ahmad explained that at the same time emirates will be free to modernise its fleet around the a380 777-300er and 777x jets and reduce capital expenditure by a huge margin and bolster cash reserves. it also paves the way for emirates to explore the 787 again in particular the 787-10 he added.
the long-range a350 jet is a competitor to boeing’s 777 and 787 dreamliner planes. the design of the a350 was changed in 2006.
“it’s not great news” airbus chief operating officer john leahy said who is also the company’s chief salesman said at a briefing. “tim [clark emirates president and chief executive officer] does change his mind from time to time so maybe we could persuade him later on to change his mind again” leahy hoped.
other airlines have already contacted airbus to enquire about taking up the vacant delivery slots he said. with most positions sold out through 2020 there’ll be “no trouble” selling the planes he added.
airbus and emirates benefit from a long-standing relationship and the airline recently reiterated its confidence in airbus products particularly by praising the a380 and the benefits the aircraft brings to their operations.
airbus is very confident in its a350 xwb programme. half a year before entry into service the a350 xwb order book stood at a healthy 742 firm orders.
— abdulbasit?khaleejtimes.com
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