Following fresh discussion about stretched twinjets between 
Emirates and Airbus in the opening hours of the 
Dubai Airshow 2025, it was once again hinted that a new A350 variant may be in the works. The extra-long A350-2000 would be the largest aircraft in Airbus’ lineup should it go into production.
The CEO of the European aerospace titan, Christian Scherer, remarked that the company is studying the potential for a larger variant, according to Reuters. The comments came shortly after 
Boeing made a similar statement regarding a possible stretch model of the 777X.
Airbus At The 2025 Dubai Airshow
Boeing sealed a deal for 65 of its upcoming 777X widebody twinjet with Emirates on day one of the Dubai Airshow. Emirates’ strong interest in jumbo jets has not succeeded in persuading Airbus to restart production of the Airbus A380 super jumbo that the airline owns over 100 of, forcing the carrier to seek alternatives. A potential 777-10X would seat over 400 passengers which pales in comparison to the 500 to 600+ that the A380 does, but would be closer.
Emirates owns roughly half of the A380s ever made with its fleet at 116-strong, according to Planespsotters.net data. The airline also flies 139 Boeing 777s and just started taking deliveries of new A350-900s with a total of 13 on the roster now. Emirates of the largest fleet of widebody jets in the world, their current backlog for the 777X is 270 deep but they have not ordered any of Airbus’ A350-1000 so far.
Reuters recounted that, on day one of the airshow in Dubai, Scherer was asked if the A350-2000 was currently in development, to which he replied:
“Yes… A number of our customers are telling us…please look at stretching it because it could be a formidable solution for us as we grow, and that is what we are looking at.”
A New Heavywieght Airbus
The demise of four-engine jets in the modern era of commercial aviation has left a handful of customers in a difficult position, especially Emirates. As the economics of flying were already making it difficult to justify quadjets before the COVID-19 travel lockdown, the effects of the air travel bans sealed their fate. The A380 production line was shuttered in 2021, and the Boeing 747 followed shortly after in 2023.
That didn’t leave any options for carriers to achieve the extremely high seat capacity that the jumbo and super jumbo allowed them to have on every departure. Currently, the largest aircraft in the Airbus production lineup is the A350-1000. Compared to the two-class configuration of the A380, which seats 615, the highest capacity of the -1000 is 480.
In a typical three-class configuration, the total capacity drops to 410 passengers in the -1000. The 777-9x can slightly surpass the dash 1000 with a maximum seating capacity around 426 in a two-class configuration. However, the future Boeing has the advantage of Fleet commonality since Emirates has a huge number of legacy 777 airliners.
Extra Stretched, Extra Widebody
The absence of an equivalent platform to the 777X is where the A350-2000 comes in. Boeing’s upcoming wide-body will be the largest twin jet ever made in the history of commercial airliners. It will also have industry-first folding wingtips and a host of other innovative technologies. The technology and performance of the A350 family are also exceptional, with it proving itself well in the field for years now, as the 777x languishes and certification is several years behind schedule.
The key is capacity, while many airlines are not concerned with maximizing capacity on every single sortie, for some, it is a critical capability. Flying to and from some of the busiest airports in the world means high slot restrictions for takeoff and departure, which means that it’s extremely important to have as many flyers on board every time a plane departs. Also, when you fly long-haul like the Gulf carriers, Emirates for example, you actually achieve the best operating cost per seat on a jumbo jet and not a smaller airliner.
Airbus still has some time to get its A350-2000 out to production, as the certification process should be much faster as a variant of an existing family compared to the 777X. The announcement that it is once again being looked at seriously by the company is a major development.
Airbus has had an exceptionally good year in 2025, keeping up a track record of outperforming Boeing with both delivery and sales. The A320 family even passed the 737 family to claim the Record for best-selling airliner ever made. With this announcement, Airbus kicks off the 2025 to buy Air Show with a bang, and it will be very interesting to see what other developments become public as the event continues over the next few days.
