Emirates fleet to hit 250-plus by 2020: report

Emirates airline will boost its fleet size to more than 250 aircraft by 2020, as the fast-growing operator continues its aggressive expansion, its chairman told a newspaper on Wednesday.

"We will be over 250 aircraft... maybe around 280 aircraft by 2020," Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al Maktoum said in an interview with a local daily.

Earlier this week, Emirates announced it was ordering an additional 50 Boeing 777 jetliners in a deal worth $18 billion, the largest commercial order by value in the US planemaker's history.

Prior to this announcement, the Dubai-based carrier had 161 aircraft in service and 190 planes on order to be delivered over the next few years.