Airlines eye 787, A350 XWB

Published 9:49 am Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Which jet will come out of the Dubai Air Show ahead – the Boeing Co.’s 787 or Airbus’s A350 XWB?

The Dubai Air Show starts this weekend and brings with it potential for at least one huge order for either Airbus or Boeing.

Emirates says it likely will place a

$20 billion order for either 100 Boeing 787s or Airbus A350 Extra Wide Body jets.

According to MarketWatch:

“We’re still in discussions with the manufacturers about the order. We may be ready to announce it at the air show, but we may not,” said Tim Clark, Emirates’ president. “We’re looking at about 100 aircraft, maybe more.”

Yemen’s national airline, Yemenia, will lock in a $2 billion order with Airbus for 10 A350s, according to

Bloomberg.

“The A350 is a very competitive airplane with the 787 and the financial offer was better for us,” said the airline’s chairman. “They will replace the existing fleet and we expect our delivery six to seven years from now.”

Australia’s Qantas continues to look at the A350 – though not for orders at the air show, reports the Chicago Tribune.

“Everything points to it being an aircraft with enough size and range to be very important for not just us but quite a number of airlines,” said Geoff Dixon, Qantas chief executive, of the A350.

A customer of Boeing’s 787, Qantas also is keeping an eye on the Dreamliner’s progress, following the jet’s six-month delay. Qantas has 65 Boeing 787s on order. The airline has sent engineers to Everett to monitor Dreamliner production.

This isn’t a new move for Qantas. Dixon says his airline sent engineers to Airbus’s site in Toulouse, France, when the jet maker ran into troubles with its A380.

Qantas is set to take delivery of 15 787s by the end of 2009. Boeing has said it plans to be nearly caught back up from the delay by the end of that same year – an assertion that some analysts doubt.

“Six months we can deal with,” said Dixon of the 787 delay announced by Boeing officials last month. “Anything longer will certainly make our life more difficult.”