Emirates airline announced Sunday that it is postponing delivery of 20 Airbus A340-600 aircraft indefinitely, saying it wants to wait for a more fuel-efficient variant of the jet. An unnamed Emirates official confirmed the underlying order, placed in 2003 for roughly 4.2 billion dollars, remains in force. The first delivery had been scheduled for 2007.
Airbus confirmed the postponement from its Paris offices. The A340's long-term prospects look uncertain: the four-engine wide-body burns significantly more fuel than Boeing's twin-engine 777, which outsold the A340 by a ratio of 10 to one last year as carriers moved to cut operating costs.
Both Airbus and Boeing are competing aggressively in the Middle East, a market expected to require around 1,000 new aircraft over the next two decades. Through November 2005, Airbus had delivered 370 planes to regional customers against Boeing's 357.
Emirates itself is the region's fastest-growing carrier. The group posted net profits of 708 million dollars for the fiscal year ending 31 March 2005, up 49 percent year on year. The airline has also ordered 42 Boeing 777s valued at 9.7 billion dollars and holds the largest single customer position for the Airbus A380, with 43 on order. Its current fleet of 88 aircraft serves 83 destinations across 54 countries.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in April 2006, in its own words.