Emirates President Says Airlines Must Expand into Emerging Economies to Survive

Emirates Airline announced recently that the only way airlines could survive the economic downtown is by expanding into new routes centered around emerging economies. Tim Clark, the president of Emirates, so far has accomplished this by expanding into new services to developing economies such as China, South America, India, and Africa.

The president of the Dubai-based airline said that Africa is one of the most rapidly developing industry markets and that the Chinese have already developed a large base there. Clark made these statements at the recent debate at the World Travel Market earlier in the week.

He added that those who doubt Dubai’s ability to expand in it’s economy may end up missing out on a highly lucrative market in the long run. He advised those at the World Travel Market to watch Dubai closely, despite weathering the recent recession, he said that the city would continue to expand upon bouncing back from the downturn.

Clark continued, announcing that Emirates will be one of the few airlines to report profits on the increase from last year. Most airlines have taken a loss this year in the downturn. But Emirates Airline is expected to do better than previous forecasts on the company’s profits.

The growing start-up continues to expand and it is expected that the Dubai carrier will have 15 A380s by the end of 2010. He also said that the current five A380s run by the airline at present have been filling about 90 percent of their seats on each flight.