Emirates Airline President, Sir Tim Clark, said on Tuesday that the recent launch of Saudi Arabia’s new national carrier Riyadh Air and the expansion of other regional competitors will not impact the Gulf carrier.
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Regional developments
The comments come at the heels of major expansions across Air India and Saudia’s fleets, as well as the launch of new airlines set to bring more competition to the Middle East market including Riyadh Air, NEOM Airline, and others.
Nevertheless, Clark affirmed that the ongoing developments across the region’s aviation landscape will not affect Emirates. “If Emirates continues to do what it has always done well —as long as it is good, people will use it,” he said, adding that the projected investments in Saudi Arabia’s aviation sector will yield benefits for both the region and the industry.
“If they are going to spend trillions of dollars, it is great for the area, it is great for the aviation industry. Good luck to them,” he told reporters.
On his part, Emirates’ Chief Commercial Officer, Adnan Kazim told Aviation Business Middle East that the airline operates in an environment of full competition, especially with the ‘Open Skies’ policy adopted by Dubai. “This should not be looked at as a threat! On the contrary, I think this is complementing the region with more choices and options,” he said.
Kazim further emphasised that the new airlines will bring new types of business and more tourists to both Saudi Arabia and Dubai.
Supply chain headwinds
According to Clark, Emirates is working to put the remaining Airbus A380 aircraft back into operation — after being grounded during the COVID-19 pandemic—.
“We had 86 flying last year and we need to get another 20-30 in the air as soon as we can,” he said, highlighting that global supply chain snags are impacting the airline’s multi-billion-dollar fleet retrofitting and renovation programme.
“We can never be held at the mercy of the supply chain or manufacturer — If the 777 is late again we still have something in the armoury to cover all eventualities,” Clark noted, adding that he hopes that Emirates would start taking deliveries of its delayed Boeing 777-9 aircraft between July and October 2025.
To meet the anticipated surge of demand over the coming years, Emirates currently has 165 aircraft on order, with more orders likely to be placed, Clark revealed, forecasting that the aircraft supply chain would come to “some degree of normality” by mid-2024.
