Emirates Airline orders US$1.5 billion worth of engines

Emirates Airline today signed an order for GE-P&W Engine Alliance aircraft engines worth US$1.5 billion, to power its latest order of 23 Airbus A380-800 placed in June at the Paris air show.

The airline also announced plans to build a US$45 million advanced jet engine test facility in Dubai, in partnership with GE Aircraft Engines (GEAE), and the launch of a new helicopter simulator training program with CAE.

The new engine contract was signed in Dubai today by Emirates’ Chairman HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum and Lloyd Thompson, President of GE-P&W Engine Alliance, during a media briefing at Dubai's 8th International Aerospace Exhibition.

The order is for 101 GP7200 engines (92 installed and nine spare) for delivery from 2009. These are in addition to an earlier US$1.5 billion order for 98 engines of the same type placed by Emirates last year (88 installed and 10 spare), for the first wave of 22 Airbus A380-800, which will start being delivered to the airline in 2006.

The total US$3 billion investment in the 199 GP7200 engines ordered so far by Emirates makes the airline the world’s largest client for this new Engine Alliance powerplant. Emirates also is the world’s largest customer for the A380-800, having ordered 45 of the yet-to-fly super-jumbos, or about one-third of all firm orders taken by Airbus for the new aircraft.

Sheikh Ahmed said: “The GP7200 engine was chosen after a comprehensive and detailed study of the engines available for the A380. Because of the size of the order we could have had two different manufacturers providing powerplants for our A380’s. But we again decided that the Engine Alliance engine is ideal for us."

He added: "Emirates will be the world’s first airline to put the GP7200 into service. We are pleased to increase our business relationship with Engine Alliance and are confident of its commitment to deliver an engine that will meet our expectations.”

Lloyd Thompson said: “Emirates’ confidence in our technology and ability to deliver on this order as required, is very gratifying. It's the best possible reward for the time and effort that we have been investing in the GP7200, in partnership with Emirates engineering and operations staff, who continue to provide valuable technical input. We are looking forward to giving them 199 excellent reasons to feel they made the right decision."

New Multi-Jet Engine Testing Facility and Helicopter Simulator Training  HH Sheikh Ahmed also disclosed that GEAE and Emirates have reached an agreement for the former to design and construct an advanced jet engine test facility for Emirates in Dubai. The project will expand the airline’s jet engine repair and technical support capabilities and will eliminate the current need to outsource Emirates’ jet engine testing.

It will consist of a 6000 square meter indoor jet engine test stand with state-of-the-art data acquisition systems and engine "preparation to test" area. Construction is set to begin next year, for completion in 2006. The building cost is estimated at US$45 million.

The Emirates Chairman said: “This will be the most advanced and unique jet engine test facility in the world, capable of testing a wide array of jet engines such as the GP7200, the CFM56, the Rolls Royce Trent series and the GE90. It will be capable of testing jet engines up to 150,000 pounds of thrust.”

In addition he revealed that Emirates-CAE Flight Training will launch the first full flight Bell 412 / 212 helicopter simulator training program in the Gulf region. It will be in place at the end of 2005, with commitments from a number of GCC and Middle East operators.

Sheikh Ahmed commented: “Expansion into helicopter training reinforces Emirates-CAE Flight Training as the centre of excellence for aviation training in the Gulf region.”

Derek H. Burney, CAE’s President and CEO said: “Our goal is to better serve aviation needs in this region, and one of those needs is helicopter training. We intend to provide helicopter operators with the support they require.”

Paul Giles, Senior Vice-President of Hawker Pacific Helicopter Programme, which represents Bell Helicopter Textron in the UAE and other Gulf states, added: “The region’s helicopter operators are a highly professional, safety-conscious and productivity-driven group. There is no doubt they will take full advantage of this simulator.”

The two projects reflect Emirates' strategy to acquire technical, in-house self-sufficiency, and ultimately offer its services to other airlines and aviation operators worldwide. Besides creating additional revenue sources, they showcase the airline’s support of Dubai’s development as a major aviation hub.

Emirates-CAE Flight Training had announced yesterday that it has secured new multi-year agreements with three airlines - Air Arabia, Royal Brunei and National Air Services - with a total value of US$12 million. The centre already had eight other airlines in its client portfolio.