Emirates will take delivery of a record 37 aircraft in 2016, including over 20 Airbus superjumbos.
A tweet on the Gulf carrier's Twitter page confirms Emirates will welcome 21 A380s and 16 B777-300ERs to its fleet, as it looks to replace older aircraft including selected A330-300, A340-500, B777-200 and B777-300s.
In recent weeks the Gulf carrier has announced plans to bolster its A380 services on routes to Perth, Amsterdam and Los Angeles, as well as introducing the superjumbo on its Washington route for the first time.
To put the figure of 37 new deliveries in some context, it is almost as many as fellow Gulf carrier Oman Air's entire fleet (currently 39 aircraft).
The airline currently operates just over 70 A380 superjumbos, and is by far the biggest customer for the double-decker Airbus aircraft, with a total of 140 firm orders.
The Gulf carrier took delivery of 15 A380s in 2015, and last year launched a two-class version of the superjumbo, seating a total of 615 passengers across economy and business class.
This densely-configured A380 will serve one of Emirates' three daily flights to Birmingham from March (see news December 17, 2015).
Mark Caswell
