Airbus and Emirates Airline agree to cancel A350 XWB order
TOULOUSE, France, 11 June 2014. Emirates Airline officials have cancelled the company’s order for 70 Airbus A350 XWB aircraft, according to Airbus personnel in Toulouse, France.
Emirates Airline officials ordered 50 A350-900 and 20 A350-1000 commercial aircraft in 2007. The first delivery was scheduled to take place in 2019.
Emirates also placed an order for 50 Airbus A380 airplanes during the Dubai Airshow in November 2013.
The cancellation decision follows on-going discussions between Emirates and Airbus in light of the airline’s fleet requirement review.
“Airbus and Emirates Airline 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,” officials say, noting that “Airbus is very confident in its A350 XWB program.”
The A350 XWB order book currently stands at a healthy 742 firm orders, officials say. The A350 flight test campaign is progressing well and is on track for Type Certification in the coming months.
“Interest in the game changing A350 has always been very high with customers,” says a spokesperson. “Airbus expects the A350 order book to continue growing in 2014.”
Courtney E. Howard | Chief Editor, Intelligent Aerospace
Courtney enjoys writing about all things high-tech in PennWell’s burgeoning Aerospace and Defense Group, which encompasses Intelligent Aerospace and Military & Aerospace Electronics. She’s also a self-proclaimed social-media maven, mil-aero nerd, and avid avionics and space geek. Connect with Courtney at [email protected], @coho on Twitter, on LinkedIn, and on Google+.
