Dubai Airshow 2025: Day 1 Roundup

The first day of the Dubai Airshow 2025 has come to an end, with the opening day of the event providing plenty of key talking points across the board. Emirates made headlines both in the skies and on the ground, while Boeing has been busy announcing orders after a quiet last couple of major airshows.

Elsewhere, it has also been a productive day for other Middle Eastern carriers, with the likes of flydubai and Jazeera Airways also taking the opportunity to share big news with the wider aviation world. As such, without further ado, let’s remind ourselves of the day’s most important developments.

Boeing’s Busy Day

After a complete absence from this year’s Paris Air Show, and a muted presence at Farnborough in 2024, Boeing is bouncing back in a spectacular fashion at the 2025 Dubai Airshow, having already announced multiple orders. Two of these concern customers on the African continent, with Air Senegal having signed a letter of intent with the US planemaker for up to 15 737 MAX 8 jets. Nine of these would be firm orders, with six options.

Elsewhere, Boeing has also sealed a deal to provide more 737 MAX 8s to Ethiopian Airlines, after Africa’s largest airline with the youngest fleet exercised options to buy another 11 examples of the type. These will be added to its current backlog of 28 Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets, with this existing batch expected to be delivered between now and the end of the decade. Mesfin Tasew, the Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, explained that:

“We are very pleased to continue working with Boeing. Our relationship is based on one of trust and partnership. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Boeing’s leadership, Stephanie [Pope], Brad [McMullen], and the rest of the Boeing team.”

Emirates: The Hometown Hero’s Headlines

Boeing’s biggest order of the day involved a customer located somewhat closer to home as far as the Dubai Airshow is concerned, with UAE flag carrier Emirates putting its name down for another 65 examples of the 777-9 from the 777X series. The airline is also pushing Boeing to conduct a feasibility study into a potential stretched 777-10 model, which, Emirates explains, would help it to optimize its operations on high-demand routes.

As pictured above, Emirates has also been making headlines in the skies by participating in the flying display on the first day of the 2025 Dubai Airshow. Most notably, it flew all three of its current passenger aircraft types in formation, marking the first time that it has done so since the A350’s arrival last year.

The Dubai-based UAE flag carrier also used the first day of the show as an ideal opportunity to share some exciting news with the world as far as its onboard passenger experience is concerned. Specifically, Emirates will install Starlink WiFi on 232 Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 jets, launching the network next week.

The Best Of The Rest

Emirates’ announcement for its aforementioned deal for another 65 examples of the 777-9, which it can convert to other models if desired and required, also confirmed that it had bought 130 GE Aerospace GE9X engines to power these next-generation widebody twinjets. As it happens, this wasn’t the only deal involving GE that was announced today. Indeed, as pictured above, flydubai has chosen the GEnx-1B to power its 30 787s.

A veritable hat-trick of Middle Eastern airlines making headlines with news on the first day of the 2025 Dubai Airshow was rounded off by Jazeera Airways. Earlier today, the Kuwaiti low-cost carrier confirmed that it had teamed up with Expliseat on a deal concerning the firm’s TiSeat 2X seats. These, it says, will be used across its fleet of Airbus A320 family narrowbody twinjets, with their lightweight nature meaning that more can be installed.

Let’s see what tomorrow has in store! Keep your eyes peeled for our live coverage throughout the day, or you can find all the top stories summarized as they happen on our pinned page.