Etihad Airways reaffirms commitment to B787s

Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi Int’l) has no plans to halt the deliveries of its B787s and is set to take a further 13 by the end of 2021, Senior Vice-President (Technical) Paul Kear said during a media briefing. Quoted by UAE’s The National daily newspaper, Kear said the B787 was Etihad’s most efficient type and was “loved” by both the carrier and its passengers. Etihad’s current B787 fleet numbers 38 including thirty B787-9s and eight B787-10s. The airline has a further eleven -9s and twenty-two -10s on firm order from Boeing. It is set to take deliveries of two by the end of 2020 and a further 11 the next year. The airline’s order book with Boeing also includes eight B777-8s and seventeen B777-9s. It ordered the B777Xs in 2013, at that time pledging to become the type’s global launch customer. However, as its global investments began to collapse, plunging it into substantial losses, the airline restructured the order in 2019. New firm delivery dates for the B777Xs were not confirmed, although the airline is no longer expected to rival Lufthansa and Qatar Airways for the title of launch operator. The first delivery of the B777X is targeted for 2022 after a series of production delays. Etihad Airways also has firm orders for twenty-six A321-200Ns and fifteen A350-1000s. The carrier’s current fleet includes, besides the thirty-eight B787s, nineteen A320-200s, ten A321-200s, three A330-200s, four A350-1000s, ten A380-800s, and nineteen B777-300(ER)s, as well as six B777-200Fs.