The president of Emirates (EK, Dubai International), Tim Clark, says his airline is considering placing an order with Boeing (BOE, Washington National) for up to fifteen B777-200LRs. Speaking to the international media during the ongoing IATA AGM in Miami, Clark said Emirates is looking at between "ten to fifteen" additional airframes to add to the ten already in service.

The UAE-based carrier has exploited the type's ultra-longhaul capabilities to open up non-stop flights from its Dubai International hub to destinations such as Buenos Aires Ministro Pistarini, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta, Orlando International, Rio de Janeiro International, Perth International, and Seattle Tacoma International.

Concerning long term fleeting plans, the president told the Skywriter Aviation magazine that Emirates was close to completing its studies of the A350-900 and the B787-10.

Emirates scrapped a USD16 billion order placed with Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) in 2007 for fifty A350-900s and twenty A350-1000s in June last year. Deliveries were to have commenced from 2019 onwards.

“We’re looking at both of them. We’re at a fairly advanced stage of analysis," he said. "[The] A350 is a lot better and we have far more information than when we signed contracts for it [previously]. The B787-9 is already flying, but the B787-10 is what we’re really interested in. So, we’re ready. Our guys are working on it.”

In another interview with Leeham News, Clark bemoaned the B787-10 for not having the thrust requirements Emirates requires while lauding the A350-900 for having a surplus. However, given that Emirates has yet to get feedback from Boeing concerning the B787-10's hot weather performance metrics, it is unlikely an order will be placed before year-end.

But, once an order is eventually placed Clark says either type could be used to develop new markets and incremental frequencies given the gradual retirement of its A330-200 and A340-300 fleets.

"That means the average unit size has gone up to about 300 seats, so we’re still looking at the 250-seat market to do some of the routes such as India, some of the lesser points in Africa, and the Indian Ocean. We’re waiting to see how the market develops – we may find that they’re just too small. If you go with three classes in our configuration, you might get to 250 seats.”