Emirates is giving Airbus a second chance to convince airline executives to reverse their decision to cancel an order for 70 A350 XWB aircraft.
The Gulf carrier decided to forego the wide-bodied jets after carrying out a "fleet requirement review", it emerged earlier this month (see news, June 11).
But Emirates president Tim Clark has now evealed the airline plans to directly compare the A350 with Boeing's 787 Dreamliner.
He told the Financial Times: "At the end of this year, beginning of next year, we will re-engage with Airbus on this airplane [the A350]. We will also engage with Boeing [on the Dreamliner]."
Clark also told the newspaper that Emirates wants to buy a mature aircraft and hadn't set out to damage Airbus or British engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce by cancelling its A350 order. Rolls-Royce said that Emirates' A350 cancellation will result in a £2.6 billion loss in orders.
Emirates had ordered 50 A350-900s and 20 A350-1000s in 2007 with first delivery slots scheduled from 2019.
Graham Smith
