UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Emirates Remains Non-Committal on Airbus A350-1000 Despite Rolls-Royce Engine Revamp
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: Emirates remains non-committal on the Airbus A350-1000 despite Rolls-Royce's revamp of the Trent XWB-97 engine. Airbus data shows 45 Emirates A350-900s still to be delivered.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates
- Emirates (EK/UAE) remains non-committal on ordering the Airbus A350-1000 despite a revamp of the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engine that exclusively powers the type, Bloomberg reported on 3 November 2026.
- President Sir Tim Clark told the Aviation Week Window Seat podcast that if Emirates added the A350-1000 to its fleet "we'd have a first class" cabin, adding: "And I've already worked with Airbus on the designs of that and what it would look like," Executive Traveller reported on 3 November. Emirates' current A350-900s have no first class cabin.
- Clark also said of a possible larger A350-2000, which Airbus has not launched: "I'm not sure that they've made the decision there, but if they do, it'll be more of the same – just give us more seats and more gizmos and gadgets to put in it."
- Emirates has long criticised the durability of the Trent XWB-97 in the hot, dusty conditions of the Gulf. In June 2026, Clark told journalists in Berlin: "I don't think we are in a position to take the A350-1000 until we've seen whatever engine improvements they make," Bloomberg reported, in a story republished by Gulf News.
- Clark added at the time: "It works better in temperate climates, but with high takeoff weights, the dust in the air, the air pressure, low altitude, the operating conditions in the summer months, it's a real challenge." Reuters reported the same month that Emirates had yet to see progress on the Rolls-Royce engine improvements that would allow it to order the A350-1000.
- Clark has said he is satisfied with the performance of the A350-900, and that an eventual replacement for the out-of-production A380 might open the door to the A350-1000, according to the June Bloomberg report.
- In November 2025, a day after Emirates ordered 65 additional Boeing 777-9, worth USD 38 billion at list prices, on the opening day of the Dubai Airshow, Clark told Bloomberg the A350-1000 was "not going to be in our purview" for the time being, and that he wanted first to see how an upgraded version of the Rolls-Royce engine performs in flight from 2028.
- Clark has also been vocal about delays to the Boeing 777X, telling World Routes 2026 in Frankfurt last month that Emirates informed Boeing years ago it would reject its earliest 777X production aircraft.
- Airbus' Orders and Deliveries data to 30 September 2026 shows Emirates with 73 A350-900s on order, of which 28 have been delivered, leaving 45 unfilled. All 28 are listed as in the fleet. Emirates has no A350-1000 orders.
- Airbus delivered 12 A350-900s to Emirates between January and September 2026, the data shows.
- Emirates has taken delivery of all 123 A380s it ordered, of which 116 remain in the fleet, according to the data. Airbus lists 247 aircraft ordered by Emirates in total, of which 202 have been delivered and 144 are in the fleet.
- Emirates has been contacted for comment.
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