Emirates plans fleet expansion

Airline major Emirates has drawn up plans to increase its fleet up to 156 by 2010 and will serve 101 destinations.

In a statement issued here, the company said that the strength of its ultra modern aircraft fleet would reach 82 after taking delivery of Boeing 777-300ER "� just eight short of 100. Emirates expects to take the number of its aircraft to triple digit by the year-end.

The Boeing 777-300ER, which has been acquired by the company, will add to the airline's 13 existing Boeing 777-300ERs. Emirates' fleet of Boeing 777-300ERs will go up to 54 by 2014, making it the single-largest aircraft type in the airline's rapidly-expanding fleet, the statement added.

The company placed orders for 24 Boeing 777-300ER and 10 Boeing 777-200LR Worldliners at a cost of $9.7 billion at the recently-concluded Dubai Air Show.

The airline company's fleet currently consists of 92 Boeing and Airbus aircraft, which is a mix of 83 wide-bodied passenger aircraft and nine freighters. The average age of these aircraft is 61 months, which is more than 10 years younger than the industry's average of 187 months, the statement added.

Meanwhile, the Emirates Group said it registered a net profit of Dhs 2.8 billion ($762 million) for the financial year ending March 31, 2006, up by 5 per cent as compared to Dhs 2.7 billion ($726 million) posted during the previous fiscal.