CANNES (AFP) — Dubai carrier Emirates expects to take delivery of its first Airbus A380 superjumbo in August next year and hopes to have it in service the following month, airline president Tim Clark said Thursday.
Clark said the A380, the first of 55 on order, "will fly almost immediately, in September, if we get it in August."
The airline will get four or five more of the aircraft next year, he added.
On Monday, Singapore Airlines took delivery of the first A380, to be put into commercial service on a flight to Sydney next week, after 18 months of delays due to complex technical problems.
Clark said he was immensely relieved and happy to see Singapore Airlines take the aircraft.
Concerning a new crucial order for mid-sized planes, Clark said Emirates believed the new A350 XWB (Extra Wide Body) was the equal of Boeing's hugely successful -- but also delayed -- 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
"From what we can see, the A350 XWB is a really good plane" and on a par with the Dreamliner, he told a press briefing on the sidelines of the World Air Transport Forum here.
He said that Emirates, which expects to buy about 100 of this type of plane, hoped to be able to announce which it would opt for at the Dubai airshow on November 11-15 but could only do so if it had all the information needed from the two plane makers.
Asked if the airline might split the order, Clark said: "No ... even if I suppose one should never say never. At the moment, the idea is to have a single order but that does not mean that in future we won't look at both of them."
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