Majid Al Mualla, Emirates
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TDME talks to Majid Al Mualla, Emirates’ senior vice-president, commercial operations, Gulf, Middle East & Iran
Emirates’ has witnessed a good year with new routes, new aircraft and building partnerships. The plans are now to build on the destinations and explore its potential
How has the year panned out for Emirates?
This year for Emirates the decision was to receive new aircraft and phase out the old aircraft. By this financial year we are supposed to get 33 new aircraft. The current fleet for Emirates is 188 aircraft but it keeps changing very rapidly. Of this, we have 26 A380s and over 200 aircraft on order, which is expected to be delivered within the next two years. In addition to new aircraft there is also a lot of expansion taken place. From January until October 2012, we launched 12 destinations with two more slated for this year – Lyon (5 December) and Phuket (10 December); we also have Algeria and Warsaw in the pipeline.
How has the Middle East market performed?
Despite all the uncertainties happening around the various countries, we have seen tremendous growth. However, we must admit that regionally not all markets have recovered. For example, though we are still operating in Syria, it is just with four flights from normal seven flights. The advantage we have as an airline is that we can deploy our aircraft based on the demand from te route. This flexibility helps us gain as an airline. When we felt that the Saudi Arabia routes required more capacity, we added an additional flight.
What are some of challenges faced by Emirates?
Expansion and new destination opening are not always as per our wish list. We have a lot of destinations we would like to add to our wish list. This would include more flights to India, Iran and even Iraq but there are limitations. Another biggest challenge Emirates has is the price of fuel, which plays in a big role in the any decision making.
What are potential markets according to you which can be further explored?
There is a big opportunity in the Indian market. We currently have 185 flights connecting to 10 destinations across India but there is so much potential yet untapped. Iran is another challenging area. Having understood the market, when several airlines pulled out, we took a decision to continue which helped us penetrate the market. This was a similar decision with Syria too. We create an opportunity in times of difficulties. The next is northern Iraq , where we have four flights at the moment to Erbil but eventually we would like it to be a daily. There market shows great potential as the oil fields are lucrative and many MNCs have a presence here. According to me, the destination is a great tourism product for both leisure and business.
Going back to Iran, we have three flights a day to Tehran. We are exploring the possibility of enhancing this route with more flights as well as exploring other points in Iran. This segment has shown a strong yield with movements to San Francisco, LA and a 95% seat factor.
Which are your top performing markets in the region?
Dubai is undoubtedly our number one market followed by Saudi Arabia. Within the Kingdom, we connect to four points – three flights to Jeddah with two services on an A380 and one on a Boeing 777. Eventually, all the routes will be serviced with an A380. The other top performing markets are Kuwait and Iran which will be followed by Iraq soon.
Could you elaborate on any new routes and developments?
We need to have more capacity on existing routes rather than opening new destinations. This helps us understand the market better. We would also like to carve a niche in the markets we operate. Kazakhstan is also another important market for us. We are in talks with the government to gives us more access. With regards to our aircraft, we have most of the aircraft which are wide-bodied such as A330 and A340, these are going to be phased out. This will mean we use the Boeing 777 and A380. We are hoping to roll out the A380 in other markets such as Kuwait, Riyadh too. The disadvantage of using these aircraft is that they do not give us access to smaller airports.
What is your view of the growing online booking medium?
Online bookings depend on the infrastructure of the country. Under my portfolio, I have a mix of countries where technology is well adopted and implemented like the UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. However in some market, it is still nascent such as Oman and Iran. Considering these factors, we use all mediums but the travel agent is still an important asset and source for us.
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