Emirates, the biggest operator of the Airbus A380 superjumbo, said it’s reluctant to place a further order for the double-decker jet until the future of the slow-selling model becomes clear. With Airbus mulling production cuts if no new deals are secured this year, Emirates needs reassurances about the planemaker’s plans for the A380 as much as it does additional cost savings, Tim Clark, its president, said Wednesday. “I’m more concerned about continuity of production,” Clark said. “If they came up with what we want at the right price, knowing that we’ll need to retire aircraft fairly soon we would probably take some more. But…I don’t want to be left with aeroplanes that are headed for obsolescence.” Airbus this week formalised plans to fit the A380 with fuel-saving winglets to help boost efficiency by as much 4. <br/>
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Emirates is looking to the region's biggest economy, Saudi Arabia, to help make up for a drop in demand that has forced it to keep 5 aircraft grounded. Emirates has redeployed 8 aircraft elsewhere after grounding 13 jets as a result of cutting back on services to the US since May, president Tim Clark said Wednesday. He said the airline was looking at Saudi Arabia's demand for charter flights for the aircraft that remain grounded. Earlier Wednesday, Saudi Arabia elevated deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, the architect of its economic reforms, to crown prince. "It appears to us that the Saudi's are being a little bit more expansive, inclusive, call it what you like," Clark said. "I am optimistic that we will get more access to Saudi and that’s quite important to us because that’s a very powerful market." <br/>
Emirates Airline president Tim Clark is optimistic the US ban on large personal electronic devices (PEDs) in carry-on baggage on routes from Middle East airports to the US will be resolved. Clark said Wednesday that the US ban on PEDs larger than smartphones from 10 airports, including Emirates’ home base of Dubai “had not been well-received” in the emirate, which prided itself on its rigorous secondary search capability. The ban was implemented in March by the US govt with little advance warning or discussion. The UK followed with a similar ban on flights to the UK, but did not include the UAE or Qatar in its country target list, so its ban does not affect any of the major Gulf carriers. <br/>
Wizz Air has placed an order for 10 Airbus A321ceos, valued at US$1.1b at list prices, for delivery in 2018-19. The order for the International Aero Engines V2500-powered aircraft may be conditional on Wizz Air shareholder approval. The airline said a further announcement on this will be made in due course. Wizz Air operates 83 A320s and A321s (64 A320s and 19 A321s), after taking delivery of its first A321 in Nov 2015. The airline is planning to more than double its fleet by 2024, with more than 140 aircraft scheduled for delivery. These include another 22 A321s that will arrive by 2019, followed by 110 A321neos from 2019. “We are growing at a rate of 23% per year right now. That translates into inducting 14-15 aircraft a year, but it is very important that we deliver profit growth too," CE Jozsef Varadi said. <br/>
Chinese carrier Donghai Airlines will convert 10 Boeing 737 MAXs it now has on order to Boeing’s new 737 MAX 10 variant, the company announced Wednesday. Donghai’s order is valued at US$1.2b at list prices. Donghai launched passenger service operations in early 2014 after 8 years solely as a cargo airline. The carrier operates a fleet of 15 737-800s, serving over 35 cities across China, and plans to begin international long-haul flights between 2021 and 2023. Donghai aims to grow its fleet to 100 aircraft by 2025. Donghai firmed its order for 25 737 MAX aircraft in Sept 2016. The airline announced its intent to order the 737 MAXs in July 2016, along with 5 787-9s. Boeing reported the order for the 787-9s was finalised in Nov 2016. <br/>