Emirates orders $9bn worth of Boeing jets despite safety concerns
Gulf airline Emirates has unveiled a $9bn order for 30 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, while reducing its deal for the delayed 777x plane from 150 to 126.
The order was struck after 11th hour talks at the Dubai air show, which has been taking place this week. It follows comments from Emirates president Tim Clark that he wants the plane to be put through “hell on earth” in testing to make sure it is safe to fly.
Read more: Boeing gets orders for 50 more grounded 737 Max jets
It comes on top of a $16bn order with Airbus for 50 of its A350 jets, bringing Emirates’ commitments this week to $24.8bn, as the operator looks to expand into new markets.
The US aviation regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), said it would make sure the 777x certification process was rigorous.
Steve Dickson, FAA administrator, said: “I did meet with Emirates and we had excellent dialogue,” he said at the Dubai Airshow when asked if the 777x certification would be tougher in light of the grounding of the 737 Max jet after two deadly crashes.
“Perhaps there will be more emphasis on making sure that the systems, as they evolve, are effectively integrated across the entire product and that we are not looking at issues in a fragmented fashion.”
Dickson also said the certification for the 737 Max would take “whatever time is needed”.
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“We are going to make sure we are very methodical and very diligent. We are not delegating anything,” he said.
The 737 Max has been grounded since March after the second of two crashes which killed 346 people