PRAGUE – Dubai government-owned flagship carrier Emirates airline will look to increase the size of its fleet by at least 100 planes over the next eight years, company president Tim Clark said on Thursday.

The airline, the largest customer for the Airbus A380 aircraft, is set to reveal new plane orders at the July Farnborough Airshow.

Clark declined to comment on the expected order.

“I am not saying that will be the end of it either, even in Farnborough. As we grow business, we will continue to look at network expansion,” Clark told Reuters while on a visit to the Prague airport for a company media event.

He said the airline would have to replace 68 ageing planes in the next few years.

“Today we have 147 aircraft, and that will grow by a minimum of a hundred over the next eight years,” he said.

Emirates in June placed a record $11 billion order for 32 superjumbos with Airbus, bringing its Airbus orders to 90 aircraft.

The Arab world’s largest airline by fleet size, posted in May a fivefold increase in 2009-10 profit to 3.5 billion dirhams ($953 million).

It also said it was aiming for a full-year net profit of around 4.25 billion dirhams for the group this year.
Clark said the company was doing better than a year ago.

“We are optimistic that we will finish the year ahead of our own budget,” he said.

Source: business.maktoob.com