Thursday, July 05, 2007

Big Business: Emirates Air

Well, maybe you've never heard of them, but if you live here in the Middle East you know they're a big company, and growing fast. For me the Emirates (UAE) are a fascinating little country. They have grown quickly and managed to stave off the rampant corruption that plagues most countries in the region. How? Not sure... Maybe they're just too Western?

Anyway, interesting article here, especially for those interested in international business, or who travel in the ME every now and then. A section:

Some may consider Maktoum's goals overreaching, but he has delivered so far on all his promises. He built Emirates from a two-plane operation, started with $10 million in 1985, into one of the world's largest international carriers, with 105 planes. Emirates is the world's fastest-growing airline - it will take delivery of one new Boeing or Airbus plane a month for the next five years - and Maktoum said he would like to see it become, some day, the world's biggest.

"We've never seen anything like it before," said Robert Cullemore, a consultant at Aviation Economics, an aerospace advisory firm in London. "We've never seen growth at this rate."

Of course, success for Maktoum is not just a simple matter of buying airplanes. He must still compete with well-established carriers plying many of the same routes as Emirates, attract enough passengers to fill his vast fleet profitably and hope that the economies of the Middle East, including Dubai, and emerging markets in Asia and the Indian subcontinent continue to grow at their current pace to justify the huge investment by Emirates.

No comments: