Emirates Air Expects A350 Design By Feb '09
Tim Clark, president of the Dubai-based carrier, said the design for the aircraft, a competitor to the 777 offered by Boeing Co. (BA), should be ready within "a month or two."
The A350 has garnered almost 500 orders since airlines and leasing companies forced Airbus, owned by European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co., into a comprehensive redesign that has delayed planned entry into service until 2014 at the earliest, two years behind schedule.
Emirates' rapid growth and huge order book have made Clark and his colleagues among the most influential executives in the airline industry, particularly on aircraft design.
The carrier operates a 122-plane fleet, has 246 aircraft on order from Boeing and Airbus, with plans to use the aircraft for expansion or to replace older planes over the next five to eight years, Clark said.
Emirates' zeal for new-generation aircraft has been driven by the opportunities it has carved out to link every major city via one stop at its Dubai hub.
An extra two-year wait for the Airbus A380 -- it has bought 58 of them -- forced a rethinking of its expansion plans, and Emirates also stepped back from the delayed Boeing 787 to await a larger version of the aircraft. So far, Boeing has taken more than 900 orders for the 787.
Clark has been critical in the past of the delays at both major manufacturers, but said it would be worth the wait for aircraft, which will bring the industry significant savings on fuel and carbon emissions.
"These aircraft will shape the future of the industry," he told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview.
Rival carriers have complained that Emirates has siphoned traffic from them, a charge that has made the carrier more admired than liked within the industry.
Clark said Emirates had no plans to join any of the three global alliance groupings that dominate the industry, though he expects further consolidation in the U.S. and Europe.
"We believe we can chart a course on our own," he said after inaugurating its fourth U.S. service, to San Francisco, this week.
Clark said Emirates will "push into more U.S cities and into South America [it already flies to Sao Paulo]. We have a long list of routes where we want to expand."
He declined to provide forward-booking trends but said there is some "trading down" from the business cabin to economy. Load factors are running at 77% across its system.
Emirates is looking to accelerate cost-cutting efforts despite the fall in fuel prices are likely to lift the industry back to profitability next year.
Clark expects 2009 to be "a tough year" for the industry, but added that "we have not entered into any knee-jerk response" to slow capacity. He doesn't expect to repeat the 25% expansion seen in 2008.
He said the global credit crunch has caused the Dubai economy to slow and "take a breather, which was probably needed," after explosive growth, particularly in the real-estate market.
--By Ann Keeton, Dow Jones Newswires; 312-750-4120; ann.keeton@dowjones.com
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Publié le 16 Décembre 2008 Copyright © 2008 Dowjones
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