Ten months ago, Emirates’ entire fleet was grounded due to a governmental travel ban. Things have improved since then and of airline’s 160 Boeing 777s, 137 are currently in use. Emirates also has 115 Airbus 380s, but only 17 are currently being used; the other 98 remain on the ground. Not all of their planes are being used for transporting people; right now some of their passenger jets are operating as cargo planes.
However there’s tentative good news coming down the pike. According to reports released on January 14, Emirates plans to be able to operate its entire fleet of aircraft by the end of 2021.
As per Reuters, Emirates believes passengers’ confidence in flying will be renewed as more and more people receive their COVID vaccinations. With that, Emirates President Tim Clark thinks their entire fleet could be rolled out by the end of the year.
Clark said, “Once the pandemic is over and the global inoculation program has kicked in at pace, then I see the restoration and a recapture of activity curves in all aspects of the global economy at pace, probably in the middle to back end of this year.”
Although confidence is high that all of their planes will be back int he air by late 2021, they may not all fly quite as much, just yet.
“We’re in a good place with the fleet that we have, albeit not as highly utilized as it was prior to the pandemic, to start operating again as soon as the doors open with regards to accessibility to the markets,” Clark continued.
Prior to the pandemic, Emirates was flying to 157 destinations. They’re currently flying to about 120.
The airline reported a $3.5 billion loss over six months and received $2 billion in financial assistance from the Dubai government. They expect to return to profitability by Spring of 2023.
Feature Photo: Emirates
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
