Emirates boss says travel demand unlikely to dissipate despite airport chaos

Emirates has said it doesn’t see travel demand dissipating any time soon, even as the industry battles a string of challenges that have already sparked airport chaos ahead of the busy summer holiday season. Tim Clark, president of the Dubai-based carrier and an airline veteran, said that he had “never seen anything” like the headwinds currently facing the industry. Yet, holidaymakers don’t seem to be deterred from seizing newly resumed travel opportunities. “It’s unlikely that, irrespective of impediment — whether it be price, whether it be airport facilities — that demand is going to dissipate in the short-term,” Clark said. The airline industry has been hamstrung by a perfect storm of challenges, from labor shortages and supply disruptions to rising fuel prices, resulting in weeks of severe delays and cancellations across some of Europe and North America’s busiest airports. On Saturday, more than 6,300 flights were delayed within, into or leaving the US, and 859 flights were canceled, according to the flight tracking platform FlightAware. Similarly, tens of thousands of flights have been disrupted across Europe in recent days, with 5,000 passengers at London’s Heathrow Airport expected to be hit by cancellations on Monday alone.<br/>