Interesting story if true. Tim Clark is quoted as saying he wants the merger to occur within 18 months.

The Gulf carriers are certainly evolving the past few years, as they’re under increased financial pressures from their respective governments. So while we’ve seen rational cost cutting, I think it’s inevitable that we’ll eventually see mergers as well. For example, the prevailing theory out there is that Emirates and Etihad will eventually merge and move to Dubai World Central Airport. Not in the next year or two, but rather in the next decade or two.

However, it looks like that may not be the first expanded cooperation we see between two Emirati airlines.

While not yet finalized, Aviation Voice quotes Tim Clark, the President of Emirates, as saying that he’d like Emirates and FlyDubai to be brought together as one within the next 18 months:

“We are minded to accelerate a greater joining of the hip, of what we do, there’s a lot of work going on there to extract value for the shareholder. We could do things better together than apart.”

Emirates & FlyDubai Likely To Merge Within 18 Months - One Mile at a Time