Emirates Airline has cancelled its entire order of 70 Airbus A350 XWB aircraft, worth $16bn at list prices.

The development comes after several discussions in light of the carrier’s fleet requirement review, as demonstrated by its order of 50 additional Airbus A380s at the last Dubai Airshow.

Emirate’s order of 50 A350-900 aircraft and 20 A350-1000s was originally placed in 2007, with the first delivery slots scheduled from 2019.

"It is not good news commercially, but not bad news financially."

The decision represents nearly 9% hit to the aircraft maker’s order backlog for its new aircraft.

Speaking to reporters in Toulouse Airbus sales chief John Leahy said: "It is not good news commercially, but not bad news financially. There is certainly going to be no hole in production."

The order cancellation also impacts engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce, with potential losses of £2.6bn.

Airbus said A530 XWB’s order book currently has 742 firm orders, and is expected to continue growing this year.

Emirates Airline is the biggest customer of Boeing 777 jets and Airbus A380 superjumbos. In November last year, the airline agreed to improve its A380 order commitment to 140 aircraft.

Defence Technology