Emirates orders more Airbus A350-900s as A350-1000 still fails to impress
November 19, 2025
Emirates has announced new orders for eight additional Airbus A350-900 aircraft at the Dubai Airshow.
Powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB84 engines, the new aircraft are expected to be delivered to the Dubai-based carrier during 2031.
More A350s joining the Emirates fleet
According to Emirates, the order for the eight new widebody aircraft is worth $3.4 billion at list prices. The top-up order will boost the airline’s A350-900 fleet to a total of 73 aircraft once all the latest aircraft have been delivered.
To date, Emirates has received delivery of 13 A350 aircraft, with the first aircraft arriving in the carrier’s fleet in November 2024.
“The Emirates A350’s entry into service last November has given us welcome additional capacity,” said His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group.
“It has also enabled us to introduce Emirates’ latest in-flight products to more customers, including our popular Premium Economy seats. We look forward to working closely with Airbus on the delivery of our remaining aircraft, including the new units that we have ordered today.”
Together with the additional Boeing 777-9 order announced earlier at the Dubai Airshow, Emirates now has a total of 375 units of the newest generation widebody aircraft on its orderbook.
Why Emirates isn’t ordering the Airbus A350-100
Emirates likes big planes, even pushing Boeing to develop a 777-10 for its future needs. So the larger Airbus A350-1000 makes a lot of sense for the airline. Nevertheless, despite rumours, no order was forthcoming in Paris this year, and there will be none in Dubai either.
Speaking to AGN on the sidelines of the show, Emirates Deputy President and Chief Operating Officer Adel Al Redha said the airline is still not confident in the performance and reliability of the aircraft engines.
We are in discussion with Airbus.. We are in discussion with Rolls-Royce,” he said. “Some work has been launched to improve the engine reliability.”
Al Redha noted that, when the aircraft entered service, it was not achieving the level of durability on the engine side that Emirates would want to see.
“We want a reliable engine, and we want extended time on wing,” he added. “So that’s what we are pushing on.”
Al Redha believes that over the next couple of years, some design improvements will be implemented on the Trent XWBs that power the A350-1000. However, even then, he says the airline will need to see the results before making a commitment.
“We need to start seeing the effectiveness and that it is enhancing the on wing time of these engines,” he concluded.
Rolls-Royce takes a win where it can get one
Despite the challenges the A350-1000 allegedly has with engine durability, Rolls-Royce was celebratory about the new commitment from Emirates for the smaller family member.
“Today’s announcement is testament to the confidence in the Trent XWB-84, exclusively powering the Airbus A350-900,” commented Omar Ali Adib, Senior Vice President, Customer – Middle East, Africa and Central Asia for Rolls-Royce.
“The Trent XWB-84 has been setting the industry benchmark for large aero-engines for ten years, demonstrating outstanding durability and low fuel consumption, making it the ideal platform to support Emirates and its expansion.”
“We extend our gratitude to Emirates for their continued trust in Rolls-Royce and are proud to continue our long-standing relationship,” he concluded.
Stay up to date with all the news from Dubai Airshow 2025 with AGN.
Emirates expands its outstanding order book
Along with this top-up order for the eight A350-900s, the airline is expecting a total of 375 new twin-aisle aircraft to enter its fleet in the coming years. This figure includes 60 A350-900s, which each seat 302 passengers in a three-class configuration.
Additionally, the airline is expecting 270 Boeing 777-9s and 35 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, as well as ten more 777Fs to bolster in dedicated freight fleet.
With only 279 aircraft in its current fleet, it is unusual that an airline has more outstanding aircraft on order than it currently operates.
However, betting big on the airline’s continued growth and with demand for travel continuing to rise, Emirates is laying the foundations now for ongoing expansion, modernisation future success in the future.
Featured image: franz massard / stock.adobe.com
