What could 8 more Airbus A350-900 do for an airline? With a capacity of up to 352 passengers, this aeroplane model is the largest in the world. But when it’s the world’s largest airline making the order, you’ve got to listen.
Emirates Airlines displayed its muscle at the Dubai Air Show 2025 by ordering 8 new Airbus A350-900 planes, even though previous orders are yet to be fulfilled by aircraft maker.
Out of the 73 aircrafts that the company had ordered before this year’s show, only 13 have been delivered. It is like taking the backlog back to default settings for the manufacturer – all for the good of the customer. Airbus now has to deliver 60 Airbus A350-900.
That is not the only news.
In addition to the large birds, Emirates also wants Boeing to deliver 65 more Boeing 777-9 aeroplanes. Who even needs to compete here?
That’s putting a total commitment of USD 41.4 billion on the table, according to the airline. If all the birds on order were to be delivered today, Emirates would have an additional 375 large body aircrafts to add on its current 269 aeroplanes.
As indicated, there is reason to these orders. According to HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group, the A350 that was introduced to the airline late last year has given it additional capacity or more customers and products, among them the ‘popular’ Premium Economy seats.
This is a massive investment in our future, the future of flying better for our customers, as well as the future of aviation in terms of job and value creation.
~ HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group
The Airbus A350-900 runs on the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB84 engines. The huge orders, including 6 by Ethiopian Airlines, is testament to the confidence in the engine’s capabilities, according to Airbus representatives.
Today’s announcement is testament to the confidence in the Trent XWB-84, exclusively powering the Airbus A350-900. The Trent XWB-84 has been setting the industry benchmark for large aero-engines for ten years, demonstrating outstanding durability and low fuel consumption, making it the ideal platform to support Emirates and its expansion.
~ Omar Ali Adib, Senior Vice President, Customer – Middle East, Africa and Central Asia, Rolls-Royce.
Emirates currently has 269 aeroplanes as at the time of writing this article, which include 116 Airbus A380, 13 Airbus A350-900 that were recently delivered, 119 Boeing 777-300ER, 10 Boeing 777-200LR, and 11 Boeing 777 freighters.
The Boeing 777-9 has the largest order at 270, even though the airline does not have any of this model at the moment. 35 Boeing 787s will also be a new entry in the fleet once orders are completed. The airline will fortify its 10 aircraft strong Boeing 777 freighters with 10 new orders.
Currently, the Emirates fleet is largely made up of 116 Airbus A380 and 119 Boeing 777-300ER birds, with no new orders for these two models.
