Emirates Seeks Global Supremacy With A380s Fl
06-05-2013, 07:47 PM
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Emirates Seeks Global Supremacy With A380s Fl
Not sure this is gonna be good for the legacy carriers.
Emirates, the biggest international airline, said it’s studying plans to become the first completely global carrier by picking up people in Asia and flying them over the Pacific using the world’s largest roster of wide-body jets.
The Gulf operator’s fleet of Airbus SAS A380 superjumbos, set to grow to 90 planes, could comfortably fly from northern Asia to cities in the north and central U.S., as could Boeing Co. (BA)’s 777-200LR, Emirates President Tim Clark said in Cape Town.
“The last piece of the jigsaw is the trans-Pacific,” Clark said in a strategy briefing. “Where we will go, when we will do it, and with what, is under plan at the moment.”
Emirates serves 134 cities and has scope to double that, aided by orders for extra A380s and Boeing’s new 777X, Clark said. The carrier will be able to board people in Asia under liberalized traffic rights secured by the United Arab Emirates.
“The open skies arrangement that the U.A.E. has with the U.S. allows us to take passengers on a fifth-freedom basis from the west coast and central points in the U.S. to points in Asia,” he said. “On the other side of the equation we have open skies with Singapore, Thailand and certain points in Japan.”
Clark said that the plan for Pacific flights doesn’t change the aspirations of its business model, though these “have morphed into being a truly global airline.”
777X Interest
The 777X will most likely be available from 2020 or 2021, 18 months later than initially promised, Clark said, after Boeing decided to make the largest 787-10X Dreamliner available from 2018 pending a formal program go-ahead.
The 777 upgrade, featuring a new wing and engines, as well as larger windows and other cabin enhancements, should secure “a few hundred” orders initially for Boeing, which began formally marketing the model last months, Clark estimates.
“All the 777 operators are interested,” he said at the International Air Transport Association meeting in South Africa.
Emirates will likely buy both the 777-9, the larger model due first, and the smaller 777-8 that could carry 300 passengers on extremely long routes such as Sydney-Rome, he said.
Already the largest A380 customer, Emirates will order more of the planes once airport infrastructure constraints in Dubai are resolved around 2017, Clark said, adding that he remains interested a stretched A380-900 that Airbus has not committed to.
Wing Fixes
Capacity issues could impair growth in the near term as the Dubai undergoes a “renaissance” after rebounding from the slump that set in 2008, Clark said. Emirates’s hub is poised to reach 90 million passengers three years ahead of a 2020 target.
Emirates is adding 44 planes this year after boosting its fleet by 34 in 2012 as it lifted full-year net income 34 percent to 3.1 billion dirhams ($840 million).
Growth in the next year will also be limited as Emirates parks A380s to install a fix to failed wing parts that have led to cracks. The airline has taken the first two affected jets out of service, with two more to follow shortly, Clark said.
The retrofit program for the 34 A380s already delivered to the airline should be completed by November 2014, with Airbus seeking to cut the downtime from 56 days to 40-45, he said.
The start of the upgrade was delayed as Airbus continues to struggle to meet delivery plans for new A380s, with some handovers falling as many as two months behind plan, Clark said.
“The delivery stream has been slow,” Clark said, adding that about seven A380s allocated to Emirates are “cluttering up the ramp” at Airbus’s fit-out facility in Hamburg, Germany.
To contact the reporters on this story: Robert Wall in Cape Town via [email protected]; Chris Jasper in Cape Town via [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Benedikt Kammel at [email protected]
Emirates, the biggest international airline, said it’s studying plans to become the first completely global carrier by picking up people in Asia and flying them over the Pacific using the world’s largest roster of wide-body jets.
The Gulf operator’s fleet of Airbus SAS A380 superjumbos, set to grow to 90 planes, could comfortably fly from northern Asia to cities in the north and central U.S., as could Boeing Co. (BA)’s 777-200LR, Emirates President Tim Clark said in Cape Town.
“The last piece of the jigsaw is the trans-Pacific,” Clark said in a strategy briefing. “Where we will go, when we will do it, and with what, is under plan at the moment.”
Emirates serves 134 cities and has scope to double that, aided by orders for extra A380s and Boeing’s new 777X, Clark said. The carrier will be able to board people in Asia under liberalized traffic rights secured by the United Arab Emirates.
“The open skies arrangement that the U.A.E. has with the U.S. allows us to take passengers on a fifth-freedom basis from the west coast and central points in the U.S. to points in Asia,” he said. “On the other side of the equation we have open skies with Singapore, Thailand and certain points in Japan.”
Clark said that the plan for Pacific flights doesn’t change the aspirations of its business model, though these “have morphed into being a truly global airline.”
777X Interest
The 777X will most likely be available from 2020 or 2021, 18 months later than initially promised, Clark said, after Boeing decided to make the largest 787-10X Dreamliner available from 2018 pending a formal program go-ahead.
The 777 upgrade, featuring a new wing and engines, as well as larger windows and other cabin enhancements, should secure “a few hundred” orders initially for Boeing, which began formally marketing the model last months, Clark estimates.
“All the 777 operators are interested,” he said at the International Air Transport Association meeting in South Africa.
Emirates will likely buy both the 777-9, the larger model due first, and the smaller 777-8 that could carry 300 passengers on extremely long routes such as Sydney-Rome, he said.
Already the largest A380 customer, Emirates will order more of the planes once airport infrastructure constraints in Dubai are resolved around 2017, Clark said, adding that he remains interested a stretched A380-900 that Airbus has not committed to.
Wing Fixes
Capacity issues could impair growth in the near term as the Dubai undergoes a “renaissance” after rebounding from the slump that set in 2008, Clark said. Emirates’s hub is poised to reach 90 million passengers three years ahead of a 2020 target.
Emirates is adding 44 planes this year after boosting its fleet by 34 in 2012 as it lifted full-year net income 34 percent to 3.1 billion dirhams ($840 million).
Growth in the next year will also be limited as Emirates parks A380s to install a fix to failed wing parts that have led to cracks. The airline has taken the first two affected jets out of service, with two more to follow shortly, Clark said.
The retrofit program for the 34 A380s already delivered to the airline should be completed by November 2014, with Airbus seeking to cut the downtime from 56 days to 40-45, he said.
The start of the upgrade was delayed as Airbus continues to struggle to meet delivery plans for new A380s, with some handovers falling as many as two months behind plan, Clark said.
“The delivery stream has been slow,” Clark said, adding that about seven A380s allocated to Emirates are “cluttering up the ramp” at Airbus’s fit-out facility in Hamburg, Germany.
To contact the reporters on this story: Robert Wall in Cape Town via [email protected]; Chris Jasper in Cape Town via [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Benedikt Kammel at [email protected]
06-06-2013, 05:15 AM
#2
Can't abide NAI
Joined APC: Jun 2007
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An interesting part of Tim Clark's strategy is buying into a Nation's politics through the purchases of their products. Holding 20+ billion dollars worth of Boeing orders for the most profitable airplanes in the manufacturer's line makes Boeing a powerfully ally against US carriers who drive a harder bargain and who have less to spend to start with. While Emirates has a policy of replacing jets at 12 years, Delta is acquiring airplanes built 13 years ago and calling them "new."
Nothing has stopped the advance of Emirates. Mr. Clark is correct that alliances are old thinking which he can leapfrog by tying together routes by revenue. I don't know how he fills his airplanes, but he's doing it. I had the same thoughts about Virgin Atlantic when the Atlantic was ripe for the picking.
As Mr. Clark states, the "64 Million Dollar Question" (actually about a 64 billion dollar question) is if all the capacity being brought on line by Qatar, Etihad and Emirates is sustainable, or if they drive each other out of business. With the leverage these companies are carrying they have to grow profitably or die. So far so good for Emirates.
Nothing has stopped the advance of Emirates. Mr. Clark is correct that alliances are old thinking which he can leapfrog by tying together routes by revenue. I don't know how he fills his airplanes, but he's doing it. I had the same thoughts about Virgin Atlantic when the Atlantic was ripe for the picking.
As Mr. Clark states, the "64 Million Dollar Question" (actually about a 64 billion dollar question) is if all the capacity being brought on line by Qatar, Etihad and Emirates is sustainable, or if they drive each other out of business. With the leverage these companies are carrying they have to grow profitably or die. So far so good for Emirates.
06-06-2013, 05:29 AM
#3
Runs with scissors
Joined APC: Dec 2009
Position: Going to hell in a bucket, but enjoying the ride .
Posts: 7,722
I'm not sure any of those three can be driven out of business, aren't all three 'State Owned' (or at least state supported) ?
Even if they could go out of business, before they do, they'll drive yields down and Legacy US Carriers out of many routes where they overlap. I'm thinking that's why Richard is getting into as many JV's and Codeshares as possible, so when the next round of Globalization hits, he can put them all together, or play mix and match, to compete with the three in the Middle East.
Even if they could go out of business, before they do, they'll drive yields down and Legacy US Carriers out of many routes where they overlap. I'm thinking that's why Richard is getting into as many JV's and Codeshares as possible, so when the next round of Globalization hits, he can put them all together, or play mix and match, to compete with the three in the Middle East.
06-06-2013, 05:37 AM
#4
Can't abide NAI
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Position: Douglas Aerospace post production Flight Test & Work Around Engineering bulletin dissembler
Posts: 11,989
Originally Posted by Timbo
I'm not sure any of those three can be driven out of business, aren't all three 'State Owned' (or at least state supported) ?
Even if they could go out of business, before they do, they'll drive yields down and Legacy US Carriers out of many routes where they overlap. I'm thinking that's why Richard is getting into as many JV's and Codeshares as possible, so when the next round of Globalization hits, he can put them all together, or play mix and match, to compete with the three in the Middle East.
Even if they could go out of business, before they do, they'll drive yields down and Legacy US Carriers out of many routes where they overlap. I'm thinking that's why Richard is getting into as many JV's and Codeshares as possible, so when the next round of Globalization hits, he can put them all together, or play mix and match, to compete with the three in the Middle East.
His statements about alliances being Jurassic thinking are particularly interesting.
Emirates will see more organic growth this year than any legacy carrier has grown since the 1990's.
06-06-2013, 05:52 AM
#5
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Joined APC: Jun 2008
Position: CA
Posts: 483
I was boarding a flight to get to work and the just-shy-of-elderly middle flight attendant on a 321 was standing there against the wall at row 21 with her arm propped up on her belly holding a Starbucks and watching people put their bags up. She would point with the cup if anyone bothered to ask her a question. It was the most ridiculous display of cat ranching laziness I've ever seen. And to think, that's what we're using to compete with Qatar and Emirates. If Congress ever loosens the cabotage rights we're SCREWED.
06-06-2013, 06:26 AM
#6
Production Test Pilot
Joined APC: May 2013
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Posts: 97
Originally Posted by go46ball
Not sure this is gonna be good for the legacy carriers.
Emirates, the biggest international airline, said it’s studying plans to become the first completely global carrier by picking up people in Asia and flying them over the Pacific using the world’s largest roster of wide-body jets. ...
Emirates, the biggest international airline, said it’s studying plans to become the first completely global carrier by picking up people in Asia and flying them over the Pacific using the world’s largest roster of wide-body jets. ...
06-06-2013, 07:06 AM
#7
Sho me da money!
Joined APC: Feb 2007
Position: B25, Left
Posts: 947
Originally Posted by SilverandSore
I was boarding a flight to get to work and the just-shy-of-elderly middle flight attendant on a 321 was standing there against the wall at row 21 with her arm propped up on her belly holding a Starbucks and watching people put their bags up. She would point with the cup if anyone bothered to ask her a question. It was the most ridiculous display of cat ranching laziness I've ever seen. And to think, that's what we're using to compete with Qatar and Emirates. If Congress ever loosens the cabotage rights we're SCREWED.
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