Emirates boss: ‘Prices will have to stay high for some time’

Responding to an earlier speaker at this week’s Ultratravel Forum – Daniel Franklin, executive editor of The Economist – who said “carpe diem” was a factor travel businesses would continue to see and benefit from temporarily in 2023, Clark said this premium demand was actually a permanent fixture.

“Demand is here to stay for premium flying. Yes, we are in disequilibrium right now, but my dashboard is saying demand is strong, and many airlines have an inability to reach that,” Clark said. “I’m not sure many airlines will be able to mount the full return, and they are risk averse to new plane acquisition, so all this leads to a capacity hold and prices will reflect that, staying high for some time.”

Clark said he would not find it “excusable” to ask airlines to cut back capacity at Heathrow this winter – as some in the industry have been predicting – just because the airport was not equipped to deal with what was very expectant recovery demand.

“They should have upgraded on all the people they needed. He [chief executive of Heathrow, John Holland-Kaye] needs to have dealt with all these recruitment issues; you have an obligation to get the airport running so people can travel,” Clark told the conference audience during the event at Pan Pacific London.

Clark added the airline was “full until February/March” and had high load factors since last October. “The ethos of our business is to continue as best we can, and that is what we have done. Our premium economy product has been selling out since a wider launch in August and it’s customers trading up – rather than down from business or first. The diversity of our network of course means changes based on geopolitical issues, but overall, we see strong pressure on our services.”

He added that outside of hospitality sector, Emirates was the biggest customer for Dom Perignon. "People enjoy their time at the bar [on an A380],” he said.

Dismissing ideas of imminent retirement, Clark – who has been with the airline for 37 years since its early days in Dubai – said: “I am staying to rebuild. We are in a good position and cash positive, but there is still a lot to do after the pandemic. We need to strip out the debt, repay the government and get an array of new products out there. There are things I still want to do and I want to get our team in a position to do that. I think the board want me to go out in a box, but there are things I do really still want to do anyway. We’ve never lost a dollar in all our time; I always knew we were doing the right thing.”

When asked how – with the benefit of his aviation experience – he would “fix BA”, he implied the airline had “lost attention to detail”.

“It’s a question of orientation, of where you want to go. People want to feel well looked after, to have a good experience. People will fly with you again if they have a good experience,” he said. “You cannot compromise on customers’ aspirations by failing to deliver on them. Everything we do [at Emirates] is designed around the customer experience, trust, people and product; that’s what you have to remember. You’re only ever as good as the people who deliver your product and you have to sustain that and stay ahead on all fronts.”

He said he ensured his team at Emirates were always conscious of the wider picture for hospitality, entertainment and technology, in order to ensure they were in-step with consumer trends for what the airline offered. “It requires the edge on the detail, and if you lose that, it’s an issue.”

Looking to the future, he said he was constantly assessing what premium flying could look like. “I’m still looking at suites that each have their own showers and toilets; we look constantly at every element.”

He added that A380s – or a similar wide-bodied flying option – were not “over”. “When you look at global demand over the next few years, when we could see nine or 10 billion people travelling a year by 2030, how are they going to get in? Luxury travel companies have to think about this: how will your customers be able to go to the places they wish to?”

He also said that – despite what some might think, or hope – “fossil fuels would still be in the mix” for airline fuel as far ahead as 2050.