| Kippreport.com

A380 is A-OK, says Emirates

November 25, 2010 4:05 by Samuel Potter

Emirates chief Tim Clark earlier confirmed that passengers were showing no signs of fear when it came to flying the A380, and that the company had not seen any drop in bookings for the plane, according to Reuters. He said he was confident Rolls would get a handle on the problem – and judging by the order, he’s almost prepared to put the company’s money where his mouth is.

“Let’s not downplay this,” he said, commenting on the Rolls Royce engine problems. “It will have to result in modifications and changes to a large number of engines and there will be difficulties, but in the end Rolls-Royce will get a fix on this.”

At the same time as helping out Rolls, Emirates has also been preoccupied with its European problem: it’s insisting it doesn’t have an advantage over European carriers, and that it’s not out to destroy Europe’s aviation industry/dominate the globe etc. The airline is facing down European carriers that claim that the UAE flyer benefits from government subsidies and credit breaks, making it more competitive.

Outside of angry Europeans and engine issues, life at Emirates must be pretty good. According to forecasts in a statement out this week, traffic at Dubai International is expected to leap 13.1 percent next year, largely off the back of increases for Emirates and Flydubai. Clearly something is going right, and it’s good for Dubai Airport, too.

“Our vision to manage the world’s top international airport is coming into focus,” said Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports.

Maybe he’s the one after world domination.

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