Tim Clark, longtime head of Emirates Airways has warned airplane builders, and Airbus in particular, that it needs to build bigger planes or be responsible for rising airfares on popular routes.
At this week’s annual conference of the International Air Transport Association, Clark told Airbus that it needs to go bigger than the A350-1000, saying “Guys, that’s too small.”
Emirates has an appetite for big planes; it bought nearly half of all the A380s ever built and is a major customer for the long-delayed Boeing 777X, which is still as much as two years away from delivery. He said “I don’t know what will happen” if the 777-9 “doesn’t come. You’re left with the 787-10… Is that it?”
Clark’s argument is that many major airports are crowded and slots are restricted. His example: Emirates has six A380s flying into Heathrow each day. To replace them with 787s would require 15 flights a day, he said, and slots are not available. He made the point that since there can’t be enough seats, prices will rise sharply.
