Emirates willing to cooperate with rival UAE airline Etihad

Emirates is open to cooperation with rival Etihad Airways in areas including procurement, its president Tim Clark said Wednesday, adding a full merger between the pair was unlikely but up to the owners. Emirates and Etihad have competed to build global networks from their respective hubs in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, even as they battled overcapacity, security concerns and a fall in regional business travel. "I think there is value to be had working more closely with them," Clark said, adding there might be concerns from regulators in some foreign markets. "There are many areas that the airlines could work together on like procurement. But we have to go the first jump first to understand what it is we could do and I'm simply the manager of one of the businesses," he said. <br/>