Emirates airline will boost its fleet size to more than 250 aircraft by 2020, as the fast-growing operator continues its aggressive expansion.

"We will be over 250 aircraft... maybe around 280 aircraft by 2020," Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al Maktoum, Chairman of Emirates, said in an interview with Gulf News.

At last week’s Dubai Airshow, Emirates announced it was ordering an additional 50 Boeing 777 jetliners in a deal worth $18 billion, the largest commercial order by value in the US planemaker's history.

It said the order was worth $26 billion including options to buy 20 more aircraft.

Prior to this announcement, the Dubai-based carrier had 161 aircraft in service and 190 planes on order to be delivered over the next few years.  

Emirates has $4 billion in cash reserves, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum told Al-Arabiya television last week.

 

Source: Reuters; Gulf News; Al Arabiya