In parallel with borders opening up across the world (with a few notable exceptions, such as China) following more than two years of prolonged crisis, the airline industry is starting to recover in earnest. As such, operators are beginning to look far off into the future again, dreaming of a world beyond pandemic restrictions and, hopefully, war.
Even those soon to leave their roles with airlines are busy setting up a trajectory that will see their airlines prosper and evolve for years to come. Sir Tim Clark, soon to step down as President for Emirates and the Airbus A380s biggest fan, says that the decline of the superjumbo will be the biggest concern for the airline moving into the 2030s.
The knighted industry veteran proposes that the discontinuation of the double-decker, which constitutes a large part of the Emirates fleet (120 vs. 144 of the Boeing 777), will cause a capacity crunch at more congested airports in the coming decade. Speaking at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit in Manchester on Thursday, Sir Tim said, as quoted by the Khaleej Times,
“My biggest single problem will be the decline of the 380 because of the ability to meet the hub requirements in the 2030s when you’ve only got a limited number of slots at the primary hubs such as Sydney, Heathrow, Hong Kong and New York, etc.”
Spending cash to stay up to date as delivery delays drag on
Without mentioning names or models (such as the delays of Boeing's 777X program), he stated that the biggest problem was getting airplanes delivered at the pace Emirates requires. As a result, Sir Tim also foresees necessary spending of about $1.5 billion on a retrofit program for the airline's current fleet in order to "raise the product standards, expand the network and take us well beyond where we were prior to 2019.”
Not having enough capacity or planes is perhaps a luxury headache compared to the unprecedented crisis of the last two years. The Emirates President, who has held the position for nearly 20 years, is optimistic about the airline's trajectory and the industry's recovery. This includes the premium segment, which Sir Tim said has been under more significant pressure than the carrier's economy cabin over the past four to five months.
“Global economy will emerge from this trauma and will get over it. I am a great believer in the fact that corporate markets will return."
Fellow flag carrier improving 2019 results
The second UAE flag carrier, Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways, has seen a similar pattern emerge. Speaking at the same conference panel, Tony Douglas, Etihad CEO, said that the airline's premium cabins had seen greater pressure over the past nine months than before the pandemic. Furthermore, load factors for March 2022 were higher than those of March 2019, contributing to the first profitable Q1 in the history of Etihad.
Do you agree with Sir Tim Clark? Will corporate markets return to pre-pandemic levels and even grow beyond? Leave a comment below and join the conversation.
Source: Khaleej Times