Dubai – Mubasher: At a time when global airlines have been looking to nab parts of other airlines under their wings to boost profitability and business, one UAE-based airline has preferred to go about the market solo.
Emirates is considered one of the most “well-funded and profitable airlines in the world,” according to Business Insider. While airlines around the world made acquisitions, Emirates stayed on the sidelines.
The Dubai-based carried logged a 124% profit surge to $762 million in 2017 from a year ago.
"We are an organic animal and we're very focused on what we do, how we do it, and where we do it. We're focused on results," Emirates President Tim Clark said told Business Insider earlier this year.
"It's a small, lean management team that run this business and the notion that we'll be sidetracked by M&A activity, taking on or getting involved with another carrier would be not without its difficulties," he added, citing challenges that faced Emirates’ rival Etihad.
Abu Dhabi-based Etihad registered $1.87 billion in losses between 2016 and 2017, with around $808 million of that figure coming from its stake ailing Alitalia and Air Berlin, with the latter having been liquidated.
Etihad also has stakes in Air Serbia, Jet Airways, Virgin Australia, and Air Seychelles, whereas Qatar Airways hold major stakes in LATAM, Cathay Pacific, and IAG, the parent company of British Airways.
Emirates has been approached by "hundreds" looking to become part of their group, Business Insider quoted Clark as saying. These “hundreds” included company owners, governments, and parent companies.
“But Clark has turned them all down apart from one. And the lessons learned from Emirates' only foray into equity ownership would go on to inform its decision making for years to come,” the news website said.
In 1998, Emirates invested $70 million to acquire a 43.6% stake in Sri Lankan Airlines, which at the time had been a “money-losing government-owned carrier.” Clark was then tasked with transforming the airline's business and products, which required massive work and control over the airline.
"I was down there between six and eight times a year," he told us. "Sri Lankan politics was volatile. There was a war going on and we had a lot of problems to deal with."
The partnership ended in 2008 with Emirates managing to turn around the Sri Lankan airline but through much difficulty.
