Etihad Airways set to place huge fleet order at Farnborough

Dubai: Etihad Airways, flag carrier of the emirate of Abu Dhabi, said Monday it is likely to announce orders of between 50 and 100 aircraft at the upcoming Farnborough International Airshow in Britain. According to Iain Burns, Etihad's vice president, corporate communication, the carrier needs between 50-100 aircraft to meet its operational plans up to 2020.

This order, said Burns, was to be placed in the summer. "The Farnborough air show is the perfect venue to make such an announcement," he added. "We're looking to order both narrow body and wide body aircraft types."

Along with Paris, the Farnborough show is considered to be amongst the world's most prestigious and is held on a bi-annual basis. It will run between 14-20 July.

Abu Dhabi is one of the seven emirates forming the UAE federation.

By the end of 2007, Etihad was operating a fleet of 32 planes. These included six Boeing jets, with Airbus accounting for the rest. Fresh deliveries between 2008 and 2011 are expected to increase fleet size to 42 aircraft.

Etihad carried 1.4 million passengers during the first three months of 2008, compared to one million for the same period in 2007. Abu Dhabi airport handled 6.9 million passengers in 2007, a 31 per cent increase over the previous year, while neighbouring Dubai, the base of Emirates Airlines, handled a total of 34.34 million passengers in the same period.