• Home
  • Reviews
    • Flight Reviews
    • Hotel Reviews
    • Lounge Reviews
    • Trip Reports
  • About
    • Press
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Award Expert
Live and Let's Fly
  • Home
  • Reviews
    • Flight Reviews
    • Hotel Reviews
    • Lounge Reviews
    • Trip Reports
  • About
    • Press
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Award Expert
Home » emirates » Emirates May Swap More 777X Jets For 787 Dreamliners
emirates

Emirates May Swap More 777X Jets For 787 Dreamliners

Matthew Klint Posted onMay 18, 2021November 14, 2023 5 Comments

an airplane flying over a city

As frustration grows over delivery delays, Emirates has expressed its willingness to consider more Boeing 787 Dreamliners in place of late-arriving 777X jets.

Emirates Open To Swapping Delayed 777X For 787

Boeing’s 777X program is three years behind schedule and Emirates is not happy about it. Despite the pandemic, Emirates is forecasting long-term growth and planned that around a refreshed fleet of 777 jets. But production delays, supply shortages, and distractions from the 737MAX disaster have resulted in a multi-year delay on the program.

In 2019, Emirates reduced its 777X order from 150 to 126 jets in a deal in which the Dubai-based carrier also ordered 30 Dreamliners. This week, Emirates met with Boeing to discuss aircraft orders. Asked about the possibility of ordering more 787s, Emirates’ Chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum told Reuters:

“It is always a possibility.

“We are assessing our fleet requirements as we speak.”

Sheikh Ahmed has led Emirates since 1985 and also noted that Emirates has only carried about 30% of the passengers in the fiscal year which just ended than in previous years. Yet he sees optimism in pent-up travel demand:

“A lot of people [who] stopped travelling for the last year and a half … want to travel.”

But any routes resumptions will be based upon demand and border re-openings:

“We don’t just open a route for the sake of opening or just for a publicity reason.”

CONCLUSION

Emirates has a fleet of over 100 Airbus A380 aircraft and is not in immediate need for new aircraft. However, the carrier is thinking long-term and recognizes, especially in a post-pandemic world, that a smaller Dreamliner may make sense on more routes. Looks for Emirates to use Boeing’s long-running delays to negotiate a particularly sweet deal for more 787s.

Get Daily Updates

Join our mailing list for a daily summary of posts! We never sell your info.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Previous Article JetBlue Flight Diverts After Anti-Masker Harasses Passengers Between Cocaine Snorts
Next Article Passenger Faces $52,500 Fine After Attacking Delta Flight Attendant

About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

Related Posts

  • a row of seats with monitors on the side

    What I Booked Before Emirates Restricted First Class Awards

    May 12, 2025
  • Emirates Restricts First Class

    Emirates Restricts First Class Awards To Skywards Elites (But There Are Two Workarounds)

    May 10, 2025
  • Emirates Most Profitable Carrier

    Emirates Declares Itself World’s Most Profitable Airline

    May 8, 2025

5 Comments

  1. stogieguy7 Reply
    May 18, 2021 at 10:45 am

    I have a feeling that the supposed 320 ‘firm’ orders for the 777X aren’t all that firm and will be gradually eroding away. As usual, Boeing has misjudged and mistimed the market, Honestly, I don’t see this model doing any better than the A380; perhaps even worse as the A380 at least had a “wow” factor with the public that folding wingtips aren’t going to equal.

    Boeing blew it long ago by updating their bread-and-butter 737 into the Frankenstein MAX rather than spending the cash to design a new, modern aircraft. They also blew it by killing off the 757 (which is where the MAX concept should have gone). The 777X is turning out to be an answer to a question that few airlines are asking, leaving the 787 as their sole successful new widebody.

    That’s nice, but Airbus has a much stronger portfolio of competitive choices for airlines at this point and I’d bet the bank that Emirates would love to have dumped most of those 777X orders and gone for the A350 series instead. That’s not financially prudent, so they’re getting the 787. Damage control on their part.

    Unless Boeing revamps their executive suite, they’re going to end up as primarily a defense contractor (as McDonnel Douglas became) and not particularly competitive in commercial aviation. And that would be bad for everybody.

  2. Ghostrider5408 Reply
    May 18, 2021 at 11:09 am

    Issue is Boeing can not seem to get out of its way. They so badly need new competent leadership and until they do BA is number 2 and in danger of slipping to 3 behind the Chinese. Interesting they haven’t seemed to have changed much since I was in the AF and ealing with their crappy issues then and attitudes. Yep we know better than you thats what we heard from them

  3. Jeff Reply
    May 18, 2021 at 11:16 am

    With the changing aviation world, I think airlines will need smaller more efficient aircraft, rather than larger. The 777x may be DOA.

  4. jcil Reply
    May 18, 2021 at 11:41 am

    Agree with @stogieguy that Boeing really blew it with the 737 MAX fiasco and the 757. In the 757, they had the exact plane they were trying to stretch the 737 into–a newer design, room for even larger engines if needed, and performance they can never hope to get with the 737 MAX. The engineering design process lapses that allowed the 737 MAX to go to initial production were truly mind boggling and inexcusable for a company I had respected like Boeing.

    They may also regret dumping the 767, as I now have serious doubts that Boeing currently has the engineering talent and company competence to successfully design a new, clean sheet of paper aircraft. They have badly botched the last 2 relatively minor upgrades they have attempted (737 max AND 777x). They will probably end up milking the 787 for all they can, and then move to becoming primarily a defense contractor as was suggested. Hope I am wrong, but have little faith left in them until they institute a wholesale management change.

  5. 747 Reply
    May 18, 2021 at 1:54 pm

    Totally agree with Stogieguy7 and Jeil 200%

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Search

Hot Deals for May

Note: Please see my Advertiser Disclosure

Capital One Venture X Business Card
Earn 150,000 Miles Sign Up Bonus
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Earn 100,000 Points
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Earn 75,000 Miles!
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Earn 75,000 Miles
Chase Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
Earn $750 Cash Back
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Earn 120,000 Membership Reward® Points

Recent Posts

  • Korean Air First Class Lounge ICN Review
    Review: Korean Air First Class Lounge Seoul (ICN) May 28, 2025
  • a group of people in blue uniforms
    United Airlines’ Uniforms Get A Facelift—And A Political Filter May 28, 2025
  • Dog Diversion Delta
    Delta Flight Diverts To Care For Sick Dog. Justified? May 28, 2025
  • a inside of a plane with lights
    Review: Korean Air 747-8 First Class May 27, 2025

Categories

Popular Posts

  • United Airlines Polaris Lounge Chicago Review
    Review: United Polaris Lounge Chicago (ORD) May 1, 2025
  • United Airlines Refresh Polaris Lounge Chicago
    First Look: United Airlines Reopens Renovated Polaris Lounge In Chicago (ORD) April 29, 2025
  • a hand holding a blue card
    Chase Sapphire Preferred 100K Bonus Offer Ending Soon May 2, 2025
  • Aegean Airlines Feast
    A Feast Fit For A King On Aegean Airlines May 23, 2025

Archives

May 2025
M T W T F S S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031  
« Apr    

As seen on:

facebook twitter instagram rss
Privacy Policy © Live and Let's Fly All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Live and Let's Fly with appropriate and specific directions to the original content.