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The Middle East’s aviation sector is open for business, aviation executives representing regional businesses, including Emirates President Tim Clark, said on Tuesday, seeking to ease worries about spiralling conflict. “As long as the situation, as bad as it is at the moment, is manageable, we can still continue what we’re doing,” Clark told Reuters on the sidelines of the UK’s Farnborough Airshow on Tuesday, adding that the airline was flying at 90% capacity and that premium cabins were full.
At Farnborough, regional leaders stressed that the Middle Eastern aviation business is going strong.
“I think the closer you are to the centre of the Gulf operation, the more normal you realise things are,” said Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai airports.
Traffic has steadily recovered in recent weeks for many of the region’s core carriers, as Emirates’ Clark told Reuters the sector has to “think positive, act positive, be positive,” when it comes to projecting the region’s recovery.
Clark added that the carrier has no plans to defer orders and that ambitions to open a new airport in the United Arab Emirates in 2032 were still on track. Griffiths confirmed that the new Dubai airport was still set for its targeted opening date.
Many of the major regional carriers have already secured substantial aircraft orders over recent years. Their presence at the show is therefore more reflective of strategic priorities and the maturity of their fleet planning than any change in confidence or growth ambitions, said Marc Nichols, partner and global aviation sector co-chair at DLA Piper.
Reuters
