The recent 69 per cent plunge in the profit of Emirates airline has further taken its toll, with the carrier announcing a shake-up in its management structure.
The adjustment saw more professionals taking up new roles at the helm of the airline’s operations.
Indeed, after numerous years of rapid growth, Emirates is slowing down, even with increasing revenues and capacity numbers, reported a profit of $237 million in the previous year, 2018-2019. Compared to 2017-2018, last year’s result was a drop of 69 per cent.
The United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) carrier saw an eight per cent increase in operating costs, as its fuel bill “increased substantially by 25 per cent over last year to US$ 8.4 billion”.
The first domino piece to fall after the disappointing financial results was the A380. Emirates switched their order of 39 Airbus A380 to 40 A330neo and 50 A350, as the two aircraft are much more fuel-efficient compared to the quad-engined Super Jumbo. The switch was the final straw for the double-decker, as Airbus cancelled the production of the A380.
And it seems like the management movement is the second piece. The third piece is a fleet review, according to the president of the airline, Tim Clark, who noted in an interview that Emirates will “look at range of alternatives to maintain the structure of network” after the A380 fleet is put to bed.
Similarly, work on Dubai’s Al Maktoum Airport has stopped till further notice as the economies of the Gulf States falter. The airport was designed to be one of the world’s biggest, with an annual capacity of more than 250 million passengers.
The completion date for the first phase of the airport, envisaged as a $36 billion super-hub allowing locally based airline Emirates to consolidate its position as the world’s number one long-haul carrier, had already been pushed back five years to 2030 in October.
But going forward in new management structure, Adel Al Redha will take up the position as Chief Operating Officer (COO), Adnan Kazim is appointed as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) and Sheikh Majid Al Mualla is the new Divisional Senior Vice President of International Affairs.
Redha will drop his Executive Vice President role at the airline, which Emirates promoted him to back in 2013, and will only serve as the COO of the company. Interestingly, Emirates finally confirmed the replacement at the CCO position, which has been empty ever since Thierry Antinori abruptly left the Dubai-based airline in May 2019.
Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the Chairman and CEO of Emirates Airline and Group, noted that the new appointments will bring “deep and diverse experiences from different areas of the airline business “and will help the “airline‘s future growth and strengthen Emirates’ presence, agility, and focus across the globe“.
