Emirates says US dispute won’t end badly

By Hannah Edensor

Emirates’ chief executive has said he doesn’t see the US / Middle Eastern carrier disputes ending badly.

According to the BBC, Sir Tim Clark said he thinks the US government will intervene and “inject a degree of sanity” before the clash “ends in tears”.

Middle Eastern airlines have come under fire from US carriers of late, with the US airlines asking the government to investigate what they claim are unfair subsidies given to Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad.

US carriers American Airlines, United and Delta Air Lines have accused the three Gulf carriers of having receiving up to $40 billion in subsidies from their government over the past 10 years, which then would be a breach in the ‘Open Skies’ agreement that exists between the US and the UAE and Qatar.

The airlines have consistently denied receiving any aid from government bodies.

As per the BBC, Clark said that his airline is being unfairly accused, because competitors are not convinced any airline could produce so much success without “cheating”.

“People simply can’t believe that we have an airline of this size in 30 years, buying huge numbers of aircraft, brand new, successfully deploying them on markets all over the world and making quite a lot of money,” he told the BBC.

Last month, the airline reported a 40% jump in annual net profit in the financial year wrapping up in March, largely as a result of savings from lower oil prices.

But Clark said any move by the US government to curb his airlines’ business in the country would likely result in a negative impact on the US economy.

“It is far too important for the US economy for multiple reasons for the activities of the Gulf carriers to be cut back, because once you do that and you start closing the Open Skies that you have today, there’s enormous ramifications,” Clark told the BBC.

“The US economy would be severely affected by a closure, shutting down of the Open Skies arrangement which has manifested, produced huge amounts of wealth for aerospace, Boeing, General Electric… as well as everything else,” he added.

Clark’s comments come just a day after the boss of Qatar Airways threatened to leave the Oneworld Alliance, accusing American Airlines of blocking the carrier’s business, according to the BBC.

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america american airlines bbc delta emirates etihad Gulf Carriers middle east qatar qatar airways tim clark united usa