With regards to cargo, there has been comparatively little to shout about so far from this year’s Dubai Airshow, taking place this week in the emirate from November 17-21.
The most notable order announced so far was the decision of Dubai-based Emirates to order 50 Airbus A350 XWB aircraft worth $16bn, as reported by Air Cargo News yesterday.
That order replaces a previous agreement of intent from Emirates to purchase 30 A350s and 40 A330 neos.
In other news, Air Arabia has signed a deal with Airbus worth $14bn at list prices to purchase a total of 120 new aircraft, comprising a mix of narowbody A320 neos, A321 neos and A321 XLRs.
It was recently confirmed that the Sharjah-based airline, which currently operates a fleet of 53 Airbus aircraft, will take part in a joint venture with Abu Dhabi’s Etihad in new enterprise Air Arabia Abu Dhabi.
Meanwhile, Airbus’s big competitor, Boeing, has sold a pair of B787-9s worth US$585m at list prices to Biman Bangladesh Airlines. A number of orders for smaller aircraft have also been placed with manufacturers Boeing, Airbus and Embraer.
Green agenda
The show has also seen Etihad Airways and Boeing unveil plans for a world-first ‘Greenliner’.
A specially-themed B787 ‘Dreamliner’, set to be introduced early next year, is to research products, procedures and initiatives designed to reduce aircraft carbon emissions.
Etihad has also confirmed that a special B787 ‘eco flight’ to Brussels will take place during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week in January 2020.
