Dubai airline Emirates is looking to order up to 100 mid-sized aircraft, double the number previously announced, in a deal that could be worth USD$20 billion, company officials said on Wednesday.
Emirates had previously said it was considering buying 50 mid-sized planes and was in talks with Airbus and Boeing.
"If we get what we want, then we could go for a big order, even up to 100, why not? We need more aircraft," The Gulf News daily quoted Emirates President Tim Clark as saying. An Emirates official confirmed Clark's remarks.
Airlines in the Gulf Arab region, backed by states with cash from record oil prices, are some of the fastest growing in the world and among the largest customers for Boeing and Airbus.
Boeing landed its biggest-ever order from the region in November when Emirates said it had placed a USD$9.7 billion order for wide-bodied 777 planes.
Emirates is now deciding between Boeing's 787 and Airbus's A350 for its latest mega-order and has said it is in no hurry to make a decision.
"We are talking to Airbus about the A350 and Boeing about the 787, but we have not decided which of these two we will choose or how many," another Emirates spokesman said on Wednesday.
He said each plane would cost between USD$180 million and USD$200 million, which could bring the total cost to USD$20 billion.
The spokesman said Emirates was planning to increase its fleet to 156 aircraft by 2010 from 92 now and that the airline would order at least 50 mid-sized aircraft.
"This is an airline which is rapidly growing," he said. "How many exactly we will order is difficult to speculate."
Emirates is pushing manufacturers to reconfigure aircraft to increase capacity and make them more fuel-efficient, the newspaper said.
The airline has echoed recent criticisms that the A350 lacks an all-new design to rival the 787, which was designed from scratch and contains more high-tech composites.
Emirates has said it would be interested in a larger version of the 787 that would allow it to seat 330 people.
Clark said in an interview in November that "there will be considerable interest in the community" if Boeing launched the larger version of the aircraft.
