Emirates airline is looking East for growth.
It will also continue to expand, will post a profit this year, and might some day start charging customers for checked-in baggage.
Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed, the chairman of Emirates airline and group, revealed these aspects of the carrier’s strategy at the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai yesterday.
He also said a closer tie- up with the low-cost carrier flydubai was possible but would not be drawn on how close the two Dubai airlines may become. Sheikh Ahmed is also chairman of flydubai, which is state-owned.
Emirates airline has faced a challenging period with net profit dropping 75 per cent in the six months to the end of last September.
Yesterday, Sheikh Ahmed cited geopolitical events that had put pressure on yields including Brexit, low oil prices, currency devaluations in Egypt and in 2017 the stop-start travel bans from the new US administration combined with an electronics ban that had already led the airline to make cuts to five of its services to the US because of weakening demand.
The significant drop in passenger loads to five US destinations, however, has not proven to be a factor in its other US services.
“We service 12 points in the United States and right now the loads are holding,” said Sheikh Ahmed, who hoped the electronics ban would not stay.
“Because we have seen a decrease in passengers to the US we are not looking at opening new routes there. We see growth in China, India, the Far East and Africa. We do not fly to 100 cities in the world, so we have plenty of options for opening new routes. We don’t need to open new cities in China, we could just increase the frequency of flights to the five cities we already fly to.” He said he did not know why the UAE was on the list of countries with banned electronic items in the cabin.
“The politicians say it is for security,” Sheikh Ahmed said. “However, when I look at airports that are exempt from any bans and I see their security measures, Dubai airport has higher standards of security than many of them.”
Emirates is expected to announce its full-year results next month and Sheikh Ahmed indicated the airline will still be in profit but would not forecast how he saw next year playing out.
“We have 27 aircraft joining the Emirates fleet next year,” said Sheikh Ahmed. “We have already announced Zagreb and Cambodia but we will be announcing other new routes. We are looking at all possibilities and we will be bringing a new product to the market in first class. We are looking at premium economy and when the market demands we may even bring in paying for extra [checked in] baggage.”
With regard to the furore surrounding a recent video showing a United Airlines passenger who being dragged from a plane to allow United staff to fly, the Emirates chairman saw a procedural failure.
“All airlines overbook and some days it becomes an issue,” said Sheikh Ahmed. “This situation should have been handled at the gate before boarding. We always offer an upgrade or a free flight or some form of recompense that is appropriate.”
ascott@thenational.ae
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