Emirates led the Fursan Al Emarat aerial display at the 2023 Dubai Air Show. Credit: Emirates.

The Dubai Air Show is back after its usual fallow year for its 11th showing at Dubai World Central.

The UAE’s Prime Minister and Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is closely involved in the show.

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The show will witness participation from 1,400 exhibitors from 148 countries, displaying a mixture of commercial, private and military aircraft.

Organised by Tarsus Aerospace, the Dubai Air Show will be held at Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central. The show will run from Monday 13 November to Friday 17 November and has commenced with a strong opening, featuring announcements from Emirates, Boeing and Riyadh Air.

Al Maktoum highlighted how this year’s exhibition deals are set to exceed the previous 2021 session of $74bn.

“The country hosts one of the most important aviation, air transport, defense and space exhibitions in the world…the Dubai Air Show, which begins tomorrow with the participation of 148 countries and more than 1,400 entities displaying their most important products in the field of aviation, defense and space.
The exhibition’s deals in its previous session exceeded $74 billion.. and our expectations are for greater growth this year, God willing.

“Dubai’s growth and superiority are linked to aviation… and the growth and development of the global aviation sector today is linked to Dubai… and the UAE will remain a forum for the most important global investment opportunities in all economic sectors,” his post read.

Spanning two stages, the aviation mobility stage and Aerospace 2050, the airshow conference hosts nine tracks featuring renowned speakers and companies across the aviation sector.

Emirati flag carrier Emirates kicked the week off by placing a $52bn wide-body aircraft order, advancing itself as the world’s largest operator of the Boeing 777.

The orders will include 95 additional wide-body aircraft, which were signed by HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, bringing the airline’s total order book to 295 aircraft.

Sheikh Ahmed, Prime Minister of Dubai, emphasised how this order reflects Emirates’ business model of transporting large numbers of travellers to and via Dubai.

HH Sheikh Ahmed said: “These additional aircraft will enable Emirates to connect even more cities, supporting the Dubai economic agenda D33 set out by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to add 400 cities to Dubai’s foreign trade map over the next decade. By the early 2030s, we expect the Emirates fleet to be around 350-strong, connecting Dubai to even more cities around the world.”

An established operator of the Boeing 777, the order includes 55 additional 777-9s, 35 777-8s and the order of 202 GE9X engines to power the additional 777X aircraft.

According to Emirates, the new 777-9s and 777-8s are set to replace Emirates’ retiring 777 aircraft.

American manufacturer Boeing has announced further aircraft orders from several carriers, including orders for 787 Dreamliners from Flydubai, Royal Jordanian and Royal Air Maroc.

Riyadh Air unveiled the second of its permanent dual-livery designs alongside a major deal including 90 GEnx engines to power its fleet of 72 Boeing Dreamliners.

Credit: Riyadh Air.

This follows the airline making its international debut at the Paris Air Show where it showcased its new brand and first livery.

HH Sheikh Mohammed added how the show will bolster the aviation sector in Dubai: “Dubai’s growth and superiority are linked to aviation… and the growth and development of the global aviation sector today is linked to Dubai.”

The Dubai Air Show will further demonstrate five days of aerial displays from Fursan Al Emarat (UAE), the Frecce Tricolori (Italy), August 1st (China) and Sarang (India).

The event is still to oversee a rush of announcements from other Gulf carriers.