The 2025 Dubai Airshow delivered what the industry expected: a heavyweight battle between Boeing and Airbus. But the real story was bigger. Gulf carriers doubled down on growth, Dubai accelerated its aviation manufacturing ambitions, and the future of urban air mobility took a tangible step off the drawing board.
Below is The Aviation Brief’s consolidated round-up of Dubai Air Show 2025, including orders and most consequential announcements.
The Order Race
In total, the show recorded 132 firm aircraft orders and MoUs covering a further 275 aircraft across Boeing and Airbus, spanning widebody, narrowbody and freighter categories. While Boeing dominated the widebody story thanks to Emirates, Airbus pulled ahead on overall volume with narrowbody commitments and several strategically important deals.
Boeing: A Widebody Power Play Led by Emirates
Boeing’s week hinged on one giant contract, and Emirates delivered.
- Emirates ordered 65 Boeing 777-9s (777X)
A US$38 billion headline that restores Boeing’s widebody momentum and signals strong long-term confidence from Dubai’s flagship carrier despite ongoing certification delays. - flydubai signed an MoU for 75 Boeing 737 MAX jets with options for 75 more.
- Gulf Air finalised a firm order for 15 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, with options for 3 more. A strategic renewal push as the Bahraini carrier strengthens its medium- and long-haul reach.
- Ethiopian Airlines committed to purchase 11 additional Boeing 737 MAX jets. This will enable the airline to grow its regional and international networks and expand its Addis Ababa hub.
- Air Sénégal has committed to order 9 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. This is airline’s largest-ever fleet purchase and first Boeing airplane order since 2004
Boeing Orders – Dubai Airshow 2025 (Firm + MoU)
| Airline | 737-8 / MAX | 787 | 777-9 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emirates | – | – | 65 |
| flydubai | 75 (MoU + 75 options) | – | – |
| Gulf Air | – | 15 | – |
| Ethiopian | 11 | – | – |
| Air Sénégal | 9 | – | – |
Boeing closed its tally with 80 widebody and 20 narrowbody firm orders, plus a 75-aircraft narrowbody MoU with an option for a further 75.
The Aviation Brief’s View: Boeing continues to secure critical wins. While the large widebody order from Emirates anchors its presence in the Gulf, the narrowbody and regional orders show Boeing is retaining strength in emerging growth markets.
Airbus: A Volume Game Across Categories
Airbus may not have matched Boeing’s headline value, but in pure volume and strategic depth, the European manufacturer quietly dominated the order book.
- Emirates ordered eight additional A350-900s aircraft worth US$ 3.4 billion. A signal that the airline will continue to rely on both Boeing and Airbus to shape its post-A380 fleet architecture.
- flydubai shocked the industry with a MoU for 150 A321neo jets. A historic shift for an airline that has operated an all-Boeing fleet since inception and a major strategic breakthrough for Airbus in the Gulf narrowbody market.
- Etihad placed a 16-aircraft mixed Airbus order
- Six A330neo (A330-900)
- 7 A350-1000
- 3 A350F freighters
A disciplined, next-generation refresh that strengthens Etihad’s long-haul and cargo strategy.
- Ethiopian Airlines ordered six A350-900s strengthening its position as the largest A350 customer in Africa.
- Air Europa signed a MoU for up to 40 A350-900 aircraft as part of its long haul fleet replacement.
- Buraq Air signed a MoU for the purchase of 10 A320neo Family aircraft
- Silk Way West ordered two A350F as part of its fleet modernisation and expansion strategy.
Airbus Orders – Dubai Airshow 2025 (Firm + MoU)
| Airline | A321neo | A330-900 | A350-900 | A350-1000 | A350F | A320neo Family |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| flydubai | 150 (MoU) | – | – | – | – | – |
| Etihad | – | 6 | – | 7 | 3 | – |
| Ethiopian | – | – | 6 | – | – | – |
| Emirates | – | – | 8 | – | – | – |
| Silk Way West | – | – | – | – | 2 | – |
| Buraq Air | – | – | – | – | – | 10 (MoU) |
| Air Europa | – | – | Up to 40 (MoU) | – | – | – |
Airbus closed its tally with 32 firm widebody orders and MoUs for 40 widebody and 160 narrowbody aircraft.
The Aviation Brief’s View: Airbus dominated the volume narrative at Dubai, securing momentum across narrowbody, widebody and freighter segments. The flydubai A321neo MoU alone signals a generational shift in Gulf single-aisle strategy, giving Airbus a powerful long-term foothold in the region.
Other Highlights
Beyond the headline-grabbing orders from Boeing and Airbus, the 2025 Dubai Airshow delivered a series of announcements that signal where global aviation is headed next, from industrial localisation to urban air mobility.
Safran Seats × Emirates
One of the most consequential developments at the show came not from an aircraft order but from a manufacturing commitment. Emirates and Safran Seats formalised a landmark agreement to establish an aircraft-seat manufacturing and assembly facility in Dubai, a move that goes far beyond securing seats for future retrofits and fleet growth. For both Emirates and the UAE, the significance is strategic: the country is no longer content to be merely one of the world’s biggest aviation customers. The partnership brings high-value manufacturing and assembly of aircraft seats to the UAE, sets the stage for future component localisation, and reinforces Dubai’s long-term strategy to anchor aviation capability on home soil.
The Aviation Brief has covered this in depth in our feature on the Safran–Emirates partnership, which outlines how the deal reshapes the region’s manufacturing ambitions.
Emirates × Rolls-Royce: A New MRO Frontier
Emirates also advanced its long-term fleet support strategy by signing an MoU with Rolls-Royce to bring Trent 900 Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul work in-house from 2027. The agreement marks a major step in the UAE’s push into high-value aerospace capability, with Emirates preparing to service the engines powering its own A380 fleet locally. The airline also extended its TotalCare support agreement for the Trent 900 well into the 2040s, signalling a deep commitment to the A380 and reinforcing Dubai’s strategy to anchor more of the aviation supply chain within the country.
Joby Aviation: The Future of Urban Air Mobility
Joby Aviation delivered one of the show’s most photographed moments when it completed a piloted, point-to-point eVTOL flight across Dubai. Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has granted Joby exclusive rights to operate air taxis in the Emirate for six years, with launch expected in Q1, 2026.
In line with the Emirate’s commitment to launching commercial aerial mobility at scale, RTA also announced 60% completion of the first aerial taxi vertiport near Dubai International Airport and the development of three new vertiports in partnership with Emaar, Atlantis The Royal, and Wasl.
The Aviation Brief has followed Dubai’s urban air-mobility ambitions since the first test flights earlier this year, and the city’s actions at the airshow confirm its intent to lead the world’s first real deployment of eVTOL operations at scale.
COMAC C919
The Chinese narrowbody COMAC C919 made its first appearance outside East Asia with both static and flying displays. While COMAC did not secure new business at Dubai, its presence signalled China’s intent to challenge the Boeing–Airbus duopoly in the single-aisle market. As Emirates President Tim Clark observed, “The Chinese are here today. I think that’s a good thing.” For many industry watchers, the C919’s arrival was less about commercial traction and more about geopolitical signalling: a new entrant is edging toward the segment that underpins the majority of global airline growth.
GE Aerospace: Expanding the Gulf’s Engine Ecosystem
GE Aerospace used the airshow to reinforce its position as a core propulsion partner for Gulf carriers. Emirates selected the GE9X to power its expanded 777-9 order, while flydubai chose the GEnx family for its future widebody operations, signalling long-term confidence in GE’s next-generation engines.
GE also deepened its regional footprint with a groundbreaking ceremony for a new $50 million On Wing Support facility at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Aerospace Hub in Dubai South. The center will provide rapid-response engine maintenance and field support for GE-powered fleets across the Middle East, strengthening the UAE’s expanding aerospace ecosystem and aligning with Dubai’s ambition to grow high-value aviation capabilities on home soil.
Starlink
Connectivity also emerged as a clear competitive frontier, with both Emirates and flydubai formalising their adoption of Starlink’s low-Earth-orbit inflight Wi-Fi. For Emirates, the move aligns with a broader cabin-technology modernisation that prioritises higher speeds and lower latency across its future fleet. flydubai, meanwhile, becomes one of the first narrowbody operators in the region to commit to LEO-based connectivity, signalling a step-change in passenger experience for short- and medium-haul routes.
The Takeaway
The 2025 Dubai Airshow ultimately offered more than a tally of aircraft orders. It revealed a region that is shaping the future of global aviation through scale, industrial ambition and a willingness to adopt emerging technologies ahead of the rest of the world. Boeing reaffirmed its long-haul relevance through the strength of Gulf demand, Airbus reshaped the single-aisle landscape with a generational shift toward the A321neo, and the UAE signalled that it intends to build as much as it buys. From eVTOL test flights to next-generation connectivity, the show made one message clear: the Gulf is no longer following the industry’s trajectory, it is setting it.
Also Read: Emirates Tackles Global Aircraft Seat Shortage by Bringing Manufacturing to Dubai with Safran
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