- HH Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum led the royal tour to mark the opening day of the 18th edition of Dubai Airshow
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – : The largest ever edition of Dubai Airshow 2023 opened today at Dubai World Central (DWC), Dubai Airshow site, with a royal tour led by His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President, Dubai Civil Aviation Authority; Chairman, Dubai Airports; Chairman And Chief Executive, Emirates Airline And Group, taking government leaders and senior industry stakeholders through the static aircraft display and main exhibition.
The industry mega-event gathered key players from across aerospace, space and defence for the 18th edition, ready to redefine the future of the industries. It runs until 17th November 2023 and has more than 1,400 exhibitors from over 95 countries and more than 190 aircraft on static display.
During day one, a significant amount of orders and deals were announced, including a multi-billion dollar commercial order from Emirates, backed by air travel demand returning strongly to reach pre-pandemic levels.
Emirates announced an order of 95 wide-body aircraft, committing to additional Boeing 777-9s, 777-8s, and 787s, worth US$ 52 billion. Low-cost carrier FlyDubai also confirmed an $11 billion order for 30 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, the first wide-body aircraft in its fleet, SunExpress, the Turkey-based low-cost carrier, placed a firm order for 45 narrow-body 737 MAX jets to be delivered between 2029 and 2035, with options or purchase rights for another 45, and EgyptAir ordered its first Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, as the airline will take delivery of a total of 18 737 MAXs as part of a lease agreement with Air Lease Corporation (ALC).
Another milestone order was made by airBaltic, the Latvian national airline, which will see it become the largest Airbus A220 customer in Europe, following the confirmation of an incremental order for an additional 30 A220-300s, taking the airline’s total firm orderbook to 80 aircraft.
Timothy Hawes, Managing Director of Tarsus Middle East, said: “Today was a true testament to the continued growth we have seen across the industry and serves as the perfect platform to showcase the next-generation features and innovative technologies that will ensure an efficient and sustainable future. Day one has seen a series of landmark orders, deals and launches take place, and we look forward to seeing more over the coming days as industry players from across the world continue to gather in Dubai and collaborate to define the future for aerospace.”
With an increased focus on Space at this edition of Dubai Airshow, the UAE Space Agency led the largest space pavilion in the exhibition’s history to date, reflecting its commitment to enhancing and consolidating the UAE’s position in this vital sector. Here, Sultan Al Neyadi and Hazza Al Mansouri, the first two astronauts from the United Arab Emirates were present at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre stand, showcasing the pioneering UAE space missions.
