Emirates Airlines is in talks with Airbus over replacing the 20 A340-600 aircraft ordered in 2003 with more super-jumbo A380s or long-distance A350s, the Gulf News reported Thursday. The A340-600s, ordered as part of its $19.1 billion fleet acquisition program, are valued at more than $5 billion at list prices.

“Emirates and Airbus are in negotiations to replace the A340-600 with additional A380s and a number of the new A350s,” Habib Fakih, president of Airbus Middle East, told the Dubai-based daily.

“The new deal will be nearly the same value as the A340-600 order,” he said in the report.

Fakih said the second delay in A380 deliveries would be the last and none of the 159 A380 orders had been canceled due to the delay.

“I did not hear about any cancellation. It is normal for carriers to revise their expansion plans,” he said.
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