Clark tells of impact from political tensions on Emirates load factors

Emirates chief Tim Clark, said in Washington yesterday that passenger load factors have declined in the wake of political tensions in the Middle East.

Speaking to reporters in the US capital, Clark said the Dubai airline had the financial reserves to absorb the hit and expects to return to an 82% load factor it would have expected at this time of year, by April. He said the current passenger load factor has fallen to 75%.

Clark said the regional instability had caused business travel to fall across the affected countries, which include Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen, while Chinese business and tourist arrivals into the region have "disappeared", he said.

Clark also said that Emirates were looking at another US gateway and would be extending its reach into South America eyeing Chile and Argentina to serve beyond its current route to Sao Paulo in Brazil.

He said that several routes will soon be served by the A380 as growth develops. Some of the more stretched routes such as Los Angeles and Houston could also see a switch from B777-200LR to the dash 300 ER aircraft as the new 777s join the fleet.