Emirates has been caught up in a struggle to convince the governments and flag carriers of various countries in order to expand its global footprint by gaining additional landing rights and frequencies into countries like Canada and Germany.
The airline's President, Tim Clark, shared with Gulf News the frustrations involved in the process and the way going forward, on the sidelines of the IATA annual general meeting in Singapore. He also shed light on Emirates' strategy for handling other industry challenges such as the forthcoming EU emissions trading scheme (ETS) and air traffic capacity issues in the Middle East.
Gulf News: European carriers as well as other global airlines are strongly blocking Emirates' growth plans into new markets. How does that worry you?
TIM CLARK: Nobody is blocking our growth. In this year we have had the French agree to more capacity. The British are unrestrictive. We have opened Madrid. Italy has seen more capacity going in. The only hiccup is when the Austrians decided that they did not want us to put the second frequency in. But of course, we are flying the second frequency now. So what can I say… we are there.
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