Emirates will offer incentives to passengers aimed at winning back travelers worried about the protracted war with Iran, although that will not mean lower fares, Tim Clark, the Gulf airline's president, told Reuters on Tuesday.
Clark said Emirates, the UAE-backed airline, would maintain its strategy of maintaining flight schedules despite rising costs.
Emirates' chairman said it would offer “all kinds of incentives beyond price” to encourage passengers to return, even as negotiations to end the Middle East conflict drag on and attacks in the Gulf have intensified in recent days.
“It could be new means to ensure the safety of their operations, for example,” Clark said on the sidelines of an aviation industry summit in Berlin. He added that the airline he leads will also address concerns about canceled flights and passengers stranded at airports.
“We will take care of all that, including flying them on other airlines if necessary to bring them home or take the children to school,” he said, adding that flight safety remains the company's top priority.
Emirates has asked authorities to ease airspace restrictions
Tim Clark also said Emirates is in talks with governments and regulators to ease restrictions on Middle Eastern airspace disrupted by the US-Israeli war against Iran and Tehran's retaliatory strikes.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has issued conflict zone warnings, recommending that airlines avoid flying over parts of the Gulf and Middle East.
“We are talking to them,” Clark said, referring to governments in the region, while acknowledging the duty of regulators to protect passengers. “We are counting on governments to be a little less restrictive in their warnings about travel to the Middle East,” he added.
The airline will not discount ticket prices to Dubai
Clark added that Emirates is in close contact with regional governments and said intelligence sharing with airlines is being expanded to ensure safe operations.
He said that for now, the company cannot reduce ticket prices to attract travelers to its main hub in Dubai again. “The price of the tickets depends to a large extent on the level to which the price of oil reaches, and at the moment it fluctuates,” he pointed out.
He added that Emirates was still hoping for a good summer season, despite the war leaving first-class cabins about 50% full, and predicted that oil prices would eventually fall from around $90 a barrel to around $70.
“And then we'll be back,” he said.
