Be good to yourself, Fly Emirates
Anthony Manduca was granted an exclusive interview with
HIS HIGHNESS SHEIKH AHMED BIN SAEED AL MAKTOUM,
chairman of Emirates Airline, during a press visit to Dubai at the invitation of Emirates. Sheikh Ahmed set up the airline 15 years ago. In March 1998 Emirates began operating to Malta on a regular schedule every Monday, Wednesday and Friday via Athens.
Your Highness, Emirates is still a young airline and was only set up in 1985. Yet it is a great success story and so far has been awarded more than 190 international awards including Airline of the Year (four times), Best Airline to the Middle East (11 times), Best Airline (four times) and Best International Airline. What is the secret of its success?
I think the success of any airline today is due to the service that you offer. Our aim from day one of the airline was to offer an excellent service to all our passengers. We are also continuously upgrading our service because the expectations of passengers gets higher and higher every year. Competition from international airlines, which also upgrade their services, is on the increase and so we must be constantly aware of this. We therefore have to think of ways of constantly improving, whether we are talking about the service, the meals, the entertainment or anything else during a flight.
Emirates already flies to a large number of cities throughout the world. Are there any plans to fly to other destinations?
We already fly to over 50 destinations but I think we will become a really global airline when we enter the north American market. This will represent a great leap forward.
Do you believe there is a lot of potential in the north American market?
I think there is a lot of potential in terms of business, trade and tourism between the two sides. The fact that we are a hub in the Middle East is a great advantage and being able to fly directly from Dubai to America instead of going by transit via Europe should be welcomed.
One immediately notices that Emirates is very much an internationally orientated airline. Its staff, pilots and cabin crew come from a variety of diverse nations. Is this intentional and how has this contributed to the airline's success?
There is no doubt that our airline is a mini "United Nations" as we have about 70 different nationalities working for us, especially among our flight crews who often speak a number of languages. During any one flight on Emirates you will find about five to 10 languages spoken by our staff. This is very convenient for people who do not speak Arabic or English, for example. The fact that a traveller can find somebody who speaks his language on board will make the journey somewhat easier. I believe that our multi-national workforce has played an important part in our success story.
There are other sectors of the company such as engineering which are also staffed by foreigners. Are there plans to gradually increase the number of local employees in such sectors?
There is no doubt that we must provide jobs for our nationals but there are no plans to reduce the number of international employees. When new job opportunities arise we obviously consider taking in more locals. However, because we are continually growing we believe we will be able to continue employing both nationals and international employees.
Would you say that Emirates airline has contributed to the economic success of this country?
There is no doubt that Emirates has contributed to the economic growth of Dubai and the United Arab Emirates. We are probably the largest company in terms of contribution to the economy of Dubai. We estimate that last year we contributed about one and a half billion dirhams (US$0.41 billion) to this economy.
Last year's economic climate was difficult. There were fluctuations in the price of oil, turmoil and chaos in many of the countries you serve, currency devaluations and aggressive commercial policies by the international airline community. However Emirates performed very successfully once again. How do you explain this?
The airline industry last year was hit by the turmoil in the oil prices and they suffered somewhat, but we managed to maintain high occupancy levels on our airline by budgeting carefully and we performed even better than last year.
Many observers comment over the fact that Emirates has not sought any international alliance or merger with an international airline. Why is this and is there any intention in the future to seek some sort of regional alliance?
I think that we do maintain a good relationship with most airlines although we do not have any direct alliances. We feel that not entering into an alliance has not created any problems for us.
Furthermore, sometimes, when you enter into an alliance you have to consult with others over what you would like to do and one of the greatest strengths of Emirates is the speed with which we take a decision. Perhaps other airlines do not have this type of flexibility, but we are not ruling out the possibility of an alliance in the future. We might decide to join for such a venture or we might decide to stay as we are.
Emirates has faced certain restrictions over traffic rights in certain markets. Why is this and are you confident of overcoming such restrictions?
We do not have that many restrictions due to the fact that Dubai International Airport has an open skies policy.
We have always maintained good relations with other airlines and countries. When there are restrictions in frequencies, seats and capacity, these are due to the overall policies of certain countries which do not allow such things.
Emirates is a government owned company. Are there any privatisation plans?
There are no plans in the near future to go public but this does not mean that this cannot happen in about five years time.
I would like to point out that Emirates has always been successful and is run entirely on a commercial basis.
How would you like the airline to develop over the next few years? What are your immediate priorities?
We want to see ourselves always on the top providing an excellent service and being a flag carrier for the United Arab Emirates. We want to continue with our excellent image and to always be profitable. That is the great challenge.
There are a number of Maltese cabin staff and pilots with Emirates. How have they performed?
We have a policy of having no place for non-hardworking employees and each employee is assessed every year on his performance. We expect all employees to perform excellently and as long as they are with us I am sure that the Maltese staff are doing a very good job.
Is Emirates satisfied with its Malta route?
Yes we are. A lot of Maltese also use Emirates to fly to Australia.
Thank you very much, Your Highness.
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