Emirates signed an agreement with Airbus to purchase an additional 36 Airbus A380 planes — an order valued at $16 billion. The deliveries start in 2020.

The order comes after a recent delay leading to speculation the A380 program would be in jeopardy, despite popularity with passengers. Emirates ordered more of these planes than any other carrier, but orders slowed in recent years.

Emirates received its 100^th A380 in November, and Sheikh Ahmed, the company’s CEO, reiterated support for the plane.

“We’ve made no secret of the fact that the A380 has been a success for Emirates. Our customers love it, and we’ve been able to deploy it on different missions across our network, giving us flexibility in terms of range and passenger mix,” said Ahmed. “Some of the new A380s we’ve just ordered will be used as fleet replacements. This order will provide stability to the A380 production line. We will continue to work closely with Airbus to further enhance the aircraft and on-board product, so as to offer our passengers the best possible experience. The beauty of this aircraft is that the technology and real estate on board gives us plenty of room to do something different with the interiors.”

The A380 is the world’s largest plane, flown by more than 200 million Emirates passengers.