Emirates will be making some major changes to its fleet in the coming years, and this has some interesting implications for the carrier. Emirates recently announced some updates to its fleet, including modifying its Boeing 787 order.
While we know that Airbus A350s and Boeing 777Xs are expected to be delivered in 2024 and 2025 (respectively), the future of the Boeing 787s seems a little less certain.
Emirates has 35 Boeing 787s on order
Emirates has been all over the place when it comes to ordering Boeing 787 Dreamliners:
- In 2017, Emirates placed an order for 40 Boeing 787-10s
- In 2019, Emirates modified its order, and instead ordered 30 Boeing 787-9s
- In 2023, Emirates modified its order yet again, instead ordering 35 Boeing 787s, including 20 787-8s and 15 787-10s; separately, FlyDubai ordered 30 Boeing 787-9s at the same time, which sure is interesting
As you can tell, Emirates doesn’t seem to really know what it wants with the 787. With the latest fleet updates, Emirates has over 300 aircraft on order, spread across three types of aircraft:
- Emirates has 65 Airbus A350s on order, all of which are for the A350-900 variant; these are expected to be delivered starting in 2024
- Emirates has 35 Boeing 787s on order, with 20 being for the 787-8 variant and 15 being for the 787-10 variant; there’s no timeline for when these planes will be delivered, though
- Emirates has 205 Boeing 777Xs on order, with 35 being for the 777-8 variant and 170 being for the 777-9 variant; the 777-9s should be delivered starting in 2025, and the 777-8s should be delivered starting in 2030
For the past several years, Emirates has had one of the most consistent fleets in the world, as the airline has just flown the Airbus A380 and Boeing 777. However, with Airbus A380 production having ended in 2021, and with the Boeing 777X being delayed until at least 2025 (representing a five year delay), the airline knew it had to hedge its bets when it comes to fleet renewal.
While Emirates has had a pretty steady strategy with both the 777X and A350-900 orders, the carrier can’t seem to decide on what exactly it wants to do with the 787, given how often this order has been changed.
There’s no delivery timeline for Emirates Boeing 787s
Emirates was initially supposed to take delivery of its first Boeing 787 in 2023. As seems to be the norm with aircraft manufacturers nowadays (and especially Boeing), that timeline didn’t stick. Up until recently, we were officially told that the first plane would be delivered in 2024, though Emirates President Tim Clark indicated that he didn’t expect the first jet until 2025.
However, with Emirates now swapping the order for different variants, there’s no timeline for Emirates taking delivery of these planes.
My read on the situation is that Emirates isn’t actually committed to 787s. Expect A350s to be delivered in 2024 and 777Xs to be delivered in 2025, but I don’t think Emirates plans to take delivery of 787s anytime soon. Rather, I wouldn’t be surprised to see those orders swapped again, perhaps for more 777Xs (and I’m sure that’s a deal that Boeing would be happy to do, given that demand is much higher for 787s than 777Xs).
It’s interesting how the airline has even publicly been pretty skeptical about plans for the jet. In 2022, Clark said that Emirates was having a “good, hard look to see whether the 787 fits into the program or not” for the Dubai-based carrier. He also stated that he thought “there might be relief on both sides if the 787 didn’t happen at this point in time.”
It’s hard to know how this is going to play out, because it’s anyone’s guess when the 777X actually enters service. Personally, I don’t think Emirates will ever fly the Boeing 787, and it will be kind of like United’s Airbus A350 order.
Emirates 787 interiors & passenger experience
Emirates hasn’t yet revealed the layout for its Boeing 787s. For that matter, with the recent switch from the 787-9 to both the 787-8 and 787-10, there’s probably more uncertainty than before. While Emirates recently announced plans to introduce new cabins in partnership with Safran (including a new business class), isn’t mentioned as part of this agreement.
Like I said, I get the sense that Emirates isn’t committed to this order, and I’m not sure Emirates has actually made any final decisions regarding the cabins on these jets.
At least initially, I know the plan was for most 787s to be in a four cabin configuration, featuring first class, business class, premium economy, and economy. It’s also possible some 787s won’t feature premium economy, though Emirates’ strategy about this new cabin seems to be evolving, as it aggressively retrofits existing aircraft.
Fortunately at least in the past, the 787s were expected to feature first class, unlike the A350s, which will be Emirates’ primary new aircraft without first class. Emirates has by far the largest international first class footprint of any airline in the world, and currently has first class on a vast majority of its aircraft.
Emirates 787 routes & destinations
With Emirates having now selected the 787-8 and 787-10, it’s safe to say that those planes would be used for different missions, should they eventually join Emirates fleet.
The 787-8 is the smallest variant of the Dreamliner and is very long range, so it could be used for ultra long haul flights in markets with lower demand, like routes currently served by the 777-200LR. Meanwhile the 787-10 is the largest variant of the Dreamliner and has the least range of the three variants, so I’d expect that to primarily be used for high capacity routes not too far from Dubai, like to Central and Southeast Asia.
Bottom line
Emirates has an order for 35 Boeing 787s, including 20 787-8s and 15 787-10s. With Emirates having recently completely swapped this order, there are a lot more questions than answers.
There’s no timeline for Emirates taking delivery of Dreamliners, and I get the sense that this is now more of a placeholder order than anything, in the event that the 777X is delayed further. My guess is that if the 777X is delivered in 2025, Emirates may just swap the Dreamliner order for more 777Xs. It’s possible I’m wrong, though.
What are you expecting from Emirates’ Boeing 787 order?
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