by: Linda Hohnholz, eTN editor |
Clark shared the stage with aviation commentator John Strickland as they addressed travel and tourism delegates at the Arabian Travel Market 2023. Together, they discussed the resurgence in passenger numbers that is being witnessed by the airline industry worldwide, as well as the opportunities and challenges ahead.
Talking about the performance of Emirates in the post-pandemic era, Sir Timothy Clark, President, Emirates Airline, said:
“We used the period during the pandemic to carefully organize our resources and devise a solid plan which allowed us to kick-start as soon as skies opened again.”
“After 30 years of operating the world’s largest airline and as one of the flagship carriers of the UAE, there simply was no option to sit back and stop.”
In the last quarter, Dubai has welcomed 5 million visitors, already exceeding pre-pandemic numbers. According to Clark, demand will continue to be as robust as it has been recently, and the leisure and hospitality sectors will see a big uptick in the next 5 to 10 years.
Clark also touched on the airline’s sustainability strategy, stating: “The fuel from the aviation industry accounts for 2-2.5% of global emissions. As passenger numbers grow, so must our efforts to mitigate our carbon footprint. Emirates runs a number of sustainability initiatives across the business. Our first flight using Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) took to the skies in 2017 and earlier this year we operated a demonstration flight using 100% SAF. We also recycled 500,000 kilograms of plastic and glass over the course of 2022. As far as we can, we try to offset.”
Globally, as of 4:16 pm CEST, May 3, 2023, there have been 765,222,932 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 6,921,614 deaths, reported to the World Health Organization (WHO). As of April 30, 2023, a total of 13,344,302,744 vaccine doses have been administered.
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