Or maybe 787 stretch could swing Emirates order

Published 9:00 pm Sunday, May 14, 2006

That’s today’s news from ITP, a magazine publisher based in Dubai, following an interview with Emirates vice chairman Maurice Flanagan. http://www.itp.net/business/news/details.php?id=20675&category Flanagan says his airline is talking with Boeing about the 787-10X, the proposed 300-seat stretch of the 787.

On the other hand, Reuters is reporting http://www.gulfnews.com/business/Aviation/10040310.html that Emirates is in no hurry at all to decide between the 787 and A350.

Key Quote: “‘We could wait a year or two. This is a plane we’ll have for 25 years, it’s a 25-year decision,’ Flanagan said in an interview.”

Sounds to me like perhaps Emirates would like a look at the once-again revised A350 before it decides which jet to order.

You may recall that Boeing initially was against building a 787-10, because the stretched plane would compete head-to-head with Boeing’s market-leading 777-200s and -200ERs. Emirates seemed to be the only customer interested in a 787 stretch, and Dreamliner chief Mike Bair told me the company wouldn’t stretch the jet for just one buyer.

But that’s all changed, Bair told ITP.

Key Quote (from Bair): “’As time has marched on and we talked to other carriers, it’s become pretty obvious to us that the interest is more widespread than just Emirates and that’s really what has caused us to look at this opportunity [an extended 787] more seriously.’”