Emirates Airlines plans joint venture with Airbus

Ashwini Phadnis

DUBAI, Nov. 5

EMIRATES and Airbus Industrie have announced their intention to create a joint venture company to provide a range of aviation services, including trading in used aircraft and used spares, as well as airlines consultancy.

A statement issued by Airbus after the signing ceremony here on Monday said the consultancy will be offered to cover items such as fleet, route, and business planning. On the used aircraft and spares front, the aim will be to act like a remarketing agent or broker, realising value for airlines from assets that are no longer needed.

The joint venture will be created during the first half of 2002 and will be based in Dubai with equal participation by both the organisations. Emirates is the largest Airbus customer in West Asia, with the European manufacturer making up a bulk of the airline fleet. Meanwhile, Airbus has announced that it has 326 firm sales valued at $34.4 billion till the end of October 2001 giving to a market share of 55.4 per cent for the first 10 months of the year.

"Based on the catalogue price of the aircraft, the 326 orders represent about 61 per cent of the total orders which have been placed during the first 10 months of the year,'' the Airbus Chief Executive Officer, Mr Noel Forgeard said.

The company CEO expressed the confidence that the aircraft manufacturer will be able to deliver around 300 aircraft next year. "Next year, we may be able to sell around 300-310 aircraft. We expect the sales to stabilise around 300 aircraft next commenting on the programme for the manufacture of the double-decker Airbus A-380 aircraft.'' He said that they remained committed to the project despite the airline industry being hit by incidents in the US in September 2001.