Emirates orders 50 Airbus A350 jets worth a total $16 billion - CNBC

An Airbus A380-800 passenger plane of the Emirates Airlines at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport.

Mikhail Tereshchenko | TASS | Getty Images

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Emirates has ordered 50 Airbus A350 jets, the Dubai state-owned airline announced at the Dubai Air Show on Monday.

The order's list price sits at $16 billion, but a steep discount is typically negotiated by airlines.

Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury told a press conference that the European multinational planemaker's flagship A380 would now have a "younger but very talented brother in the Emirates family."

The A350 is a family of long-range, twin-engine wide-body jet airliners, while the A380 is the world's largest passenger airliner. The 50 jets ordered by Emirates are its cornerstone A350-900 variety, accommodating between 300 and 350 passengers.

"Complementing our A380s and 777s, the A350s will give us added operational flexibility in terms of capacity, range and deployment," Emirates Chairman and Chief Executive Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum told press. "In effect, we are strengthening our business model to provide efficient and comfortable air transport services to, and through, our Dubai hub."

The announcement of the order comes after an underwhelming first day for the Middle East's flagship aerospace expo, with only two jets sold on Sunday.

Emirates is the number one buyer of Airbus' iconic A380, the world's largest airliner, but its cutback on orders of the jumbo jet early this year led the French manufacturer to announce it would scrap its production. Aviation analysts called it the "end of an era," as the industry's symbol of excess and luxury flight was sidelined for smaller, more fuel-efficient planes now increasingly preferred by airliners.

Asked if a reversal of the decision was possible and the jet's production might be continued, Faury replied, "The decision is in implementation now, we love the A380 at Airbus, it is a great plane and will continue to fly for decades, we are committed to supporting it. But no, the decision that was taken to cease production is not reversed."

The last A380 will be delivered in 2021.

Airbus Chief Corporate Officer Christian Scherer told CNBC on Sunday that the A380 was by no means finished, however, as the company turns to the secondhand market to keep the jet in use. Scherer described the A380 as having "many, many profitable years" to come.

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Emirates orders 50 Airbus A350 jets worth a total $16 billion - CNBC
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