By Aroonim Bhuyan
Dubai, Nov 11 (IANS) The 10th Dubai air show began here Sunday with Emirates Airlines placing orders worth around $35 billion with Boeing and Airbus.
The Dubai-based airline decided to buy from Airbus $31.2 billion worth of 70 A350 airliners and 11 A380s, the world’s largest passenger jetliner.
Emirates placed a smaller order worth $3.2 billion with Boeing for 12 777-300ER aircraft.
“The A350 was the most suitable aircraft for our type of mission,” Emirates chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum told a press conference at the air show.
Emirates president Tim Clarke said his airline did not go for a bigger order with Boeing as “the 787-9 wasn’t suitable for us and the 787-10 wasn’t available to us”.
Earlier, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and ruler of Dubai, inaugurated the five-day 2007 edition of this biennial event.
After cutting the red ribbon, he took a tour of the show with a VIP contingent of local, regional and international dignitaries. Delegates from 80 Arab and other countries attended the inauguration ceremony.
With 850 exhibitors from 50 countries, over 140 aircraft on display and more than 35,000 square metres of exhibition space, the show is the biggest in the event’s 18-year history. Thirteen Indian companies have put up stalls.
There are 11 country pavilions, with the Cayman Islands, Afghanistan, Luxembourg, the Philippines and Ethiopia making their first-time appearance.