Emirates boss sees airline's future in aviation hub model

Emirates President Tim Clark sees its aviation hub business model as central to the airline's future despite the damage the COVID-19 pandemic has wrought upon parts of the travel industry. As one of the world's biggest long-haul carriers, Emirates has over the past 35 years transformed Dubai into a major gateway for international travellers and a tourism hub. Global demand remains "hugely resilient" despite the pandemic and such crises can increase market segmentation as happened in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis and the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001, Clark said. "That's probably not what people are saying out there. But I can tell you that is the fact for Emirates. It's so, each time we have a global trauma, it creates new segments for us," he said. "And this includes the corporate segments, which everybody says that are over now ... We have never shared that view." Clark said he expected Emirates to continue with the hub model and for it to grow "at pace beyond the pandemic". "Well, you could never say never. But as long as I'm here, that's not going to happen (rethinking the model)," he said. "It gives enormous economic power to the countries and they benefit from that from the private sector to the state which takes its share of the cake through the taxation regimes that are imposed," Clark added. Story has more.<br/>