(MENAFN- Mid-East)
In an interview at the Dubai Airshow, CNN's Richard Quest spoke to Emirates President Sir Tim Clark about the region's growth potential.
Emirates recently announced a $52 billion order with Boeing and Clark said they were in“detailed discussions” with Airbus on a further order.
Clark spoke about the region's growing number of airlines and whether there is sufficient demand,“I think the proof of the pudding is that there was plenty of room for three because these business models, in essence, our international business model is based on international crossflows. The difference between then and now is that Dubai in this particular case, has exploded in its growth and everything else. So it's added a real impetus to our model.”
The Emirates President discussed the airline's close collaboration with Flydubai, but stressed that they remain separate brands,“The government wishes those brands to be kept separate and do their own thing. But as you can see, today, we have co-chairs with Flydubai on multiple flights, they're into our southern terminals, they're occupying our gates, they're using our frequent flyer programmes, our lounges, everything else. So that is all working quite well.”
Looking ahead, Clark was positive about the region's travel situation,“We've got the Airshow here. We've got COP28 coming up in a week or so's time, couple of weeks. We've got the Christmas and New Year, the hotels are all booked full here. 150,000 hotel rooms that we have. It's a great story at the moment.”
Clark on a potential Airbus order:
“We are in detailed discussions with Airbus primarily about the 350 programme. We haven't got there yet. I'm hoping that we'll get there within the next 24 hours, 24 days, 24 weeks? I don't know. Much depends on them.”
Clark on other regional airlines and growth in the Middle East:
“Is there room for three, was the question. Is there room for this? And I think the proof of the pudding is that there was plenty of room for three because these business models, in essence, our international business model is based on international crossflows. The difference between then and now is that Dubai in this particular case, has exploded in its growth and everything else. So it's added a real impetus to our model.”
Clark on growth potential:
“There's so many, so much business in this part of the world, within 2000 miles of Dubai, the UAE, that isn't served as it should be served. For instance, if you look at the big cities in the northwest, in the -stan states, one a day, two a day. Flydubai realise that if they went in three to five times a day, the business would come. And that's what's happened. So, a lot of those places are underserved. Lots more to come here, Africa, Asia, Europe, even as well.”
Clark on whether Emirates and Flydubai are operationally one airline:
“No, we're not, and the government wishes those brands to be kept separate and do their own thing. But as you can see, today, we have co-chairs with Flydubai on multiple flights, they're into our southern terminals, they're occupying our gates, they're using our frequent flyer programmes, our lounges, everything else. So that is all working quite well.”
Clark on travel to Israel:
“Tel Aviv was never part of the gameplan for a long time. But when we put it in, it was the fastest city-pair growth I've ever seen in my professional career. So, there's a lot of that traffic coming in tourism, etc, for the Holy Land, and plus the Israeli interests in Dubai in particular. So, we saw a lot of that. Now that's stopped, of course, it will have stopped under those circumstances. I'm not sure what will happen in the future, but it's a very resilient market, I can see that it will come back and they will travel again.”
Clark on the current travel situation:
“We've got the Airshow here. We've got COP28 coming up in a week or so's time, couple of weeks. We've got the Christmas and New Year, the hotels are all booked full here. 150,000 hotel rooms that we have. It's a great story at the moment.”
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