Emirates Airline CEO said the rise in global stock markets and returning consumer confidence indicates global air travel demand may increase by mid 2010. Tim Clark, who has been president of Emirates Airline since 2003, said if there is no evidence of a deepening recession or another stock market crash, consumer spending will probably pick up next year. He said “On the basis of what we see looking ahead, I think we’ll be ok. I think we’ll start to come back in the summer of next year.”
Clark’s comments are much more optimistic than in June of this year when he said they had cut fares 30% to stimulate demand, and that “every day is a firefight”. Emirates reported a 72% drop in annual net profit in May, but now the outlook has improved – fares have been increased 22% since June and passenger traffic is 20% higher this summer than it was last summer.
