Emirates CEO: We Need More A380s!

Emirates President Sir Tim Clark told a Dutch newspaper that his carrier needs more A380s, even in the face of fierce competition.

“The potential market remains huge. We need even more A380s,” said Clark.

But is that really viable, let alone logical, in an era of efficient medium-sized A350s and 787s?

“There is room for the A350s and the Dreamliner. We’re definitely considering that,” Clark added.

Even the A350s and 787s may not be useful considering Emirate’s new partnersnhip.

Emirates and flydubai have now teamed up. Flydubai has a fleet of exclusively 737 aircraft. That’s it. With the company facing financial challenges and a new competitive landscape, I personally question that the key to financial growth is through capacity growth. On the contrary, it may be through capacity cuts via a more strategic use of the flydubai fleet.

In any case, mark this as developing. Emirates already has 98 A380s with orders for 44 more.

Clark Not Concerned by Joon or Other European Competition

Clark also dismissed the latest subsidiary of Air France, called Joon. Last week I wrote about Joon, questioning its business model. Clark calls Joon “a drop on a growing plate”. Not only is he correct, but the only potential threat to Emirates is on Joon’s Seychelles flight, which is set to begin next year.

Finally, Clark assailed charges from Lufthansa and Air France that Gulf Carriers like Emirates were responsible for Asian route cuts.

We suspect that the Germans and the French [are trying] to stop us because they do not want competition for their own airlines. We do not receive state aid, we are not doing capacity dumping. Anyone who doubts can come here and look into our books.

I’d like to take him up on that!

CONCLUSION

Will Emirates continue its expansion into the USA via Fifth Freedom Routes? Could it use more A380s to start serving Asia and North America non-stop? Only time will tell, but according to Clark his airline is in the market for even more A380s.