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Abu Dhabi: Etihad Airways said it plans to announce orders for as many as 100 Airbus and Boeing airliners at the Farnborough International Air show next month.
Etihad has been considering a mix of widebody and single- aisle models and discussed the decision with its board earlier this year, Chief Executive Officer James Hogan said Feb. 27.
"The order will be announced at Farnborough,'' Etihad spokesman Iain Burns said in a telephone interview. "It will be in the range of a 50 to 100 planes, as we have said.''
Etihad of Abu Dhabi and Dubai-based competitor Emirates are expanding fleets as their government owners establish business and leisure-travel hubs.
Models under consideration include the Airbus A350 and Boeing's competing 787 Dreamliner. Etihad has also looked at the A320 short-haul series and Boeing's 737.
The Farnborough show, which alternates with Paris as the year's big trade event, starts July 14 and runs all week.
Arab airlines may almost double their fleets to 900 planes by 2015, according to their regional trade organization. Etihad, Emirates and Qatar Airways were among the biggest customers last year for Toulouse, France-based Airbus and Chicago-based Boeing, the world's two largest makers of commercial aircraft.
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