He is a global aviation leader today, but Emirates Airlines Chairman Tim Clark’s childhood memories are filled with experiences flying with Air India, be it a Constellation aircraft, his first jet flight on the former national carrier’s Boeing 707, “to-die” for the interior, and “friendly” sari-clad cabin crew. And, while Air India put the country on a global map in its heyday, its nationalization put a damper and today the government’s refusal to allow Gulf carriers to operate more flights into India “shams” development here. Could happen and could result in a loss of “$800 to $900”. Million” to airlines, including Indian carriers, who would also be denied reciprocity rights, he lamented.
“We are not here to threaten. We are never here to create anxiety. We are here to add value to the Indian economy and the citizens of India by providing a range of products that other carriers have not been able to , and to operate to multiple destinations where we know the Indian demand,” said Mr. Clarke at a media roundtable on the sidelines of the CAPA India Aviation Summit 2023.
Dubai has demanded that the air services agreement it signed with the Indian government in 2014, which allows its airlines to mount 66,000 seats on routes to India, be extended by another 50,000. However, under pressure from Indian airlines like Indigo and SpiceJet, the government is reluctant to take that decision.
Failure to do so will affect Indian nationals and Indian airlines at large as Dubai relaxes visa rules, expanding work, investment and property visas, the Emirates Airlines chairman cautioned.
“If you don’t expand the capacity, the losers will be the people who want to go there – Indian citizens. By not getting that growth to the level where we think it should be today, every year carriers would lose $800 to $900 million worth of income, Mr. Clarke said.
Ironically, the government’s denial comes at an “extremely exciting time” and “excitement” in the India story as “8% GDP growth outpaces almost every gross domestic product (CAPR) in the world”, and The increase in “Indian citizens who are going to be” blessed with higher disposable income and their ability to buy more goods and services spoke of the rapid expansion of airports, and aviation infrastructure which is a “great story” I don’t see that in South America, the United States and not even in Europe,” Mr Clarke underlined.
While Indian aviation is on the cusp of massive growth, “faster than anywhere else in the world”, there are huge challenges ahead. “You need airports and airports and airports, and you need planes and planes and planes. You need pilots and pilots and pilots. The question is, can you face what’s to come?”
The top boss of the globally leading airline also offered his counsel to help India become a hub, a move voiced several times by Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. “If anybody wants to talk to me about how do you set up an international centre, I will bring it up. I have no objection. I mean, given the priorities and the constraints, it has become very difficult in India. But I’m very comfortable talking about how things might work like integration of customs, immigration, police, airport authority etc. This is how it works in Dubai. They are all vertically integrated and the terminals A lot of the design work comes from the Emirates,” he said.
Interestingly, Mr Clarke mentioned Air India at least 35 times in his 60-minute long chat with the press, including a nostalgic reference to him flying the airline as a young boy in the late 1950s or even a willingness to bring it on board to negotiate. Bilateral due to subsequent occasions. He also expressed surprise that the former national carrier’s order of 470 aircraft, including only 70 widebodies, did not match its and the Indian government’s ambitions to become a global leader. “In my view, it should have been the other way around”, but it seemed that Air India was instead “prioritizing the domestic market”.
Mr Clarke, 73, went as far as talking about his travels on Air India as a boy in “short pants” who had a “ball” when he flew in the late 1950s and its constellations Missed flying on planes. For international flights, their first jet flight on Air India’s Boeing 707 when only Pan American and BOAC were in the fleet, “friendly” service, air hostesses in sarees, “interiors to die for” and overhead panels that were artistic was originally designed, as well as the flat beds he had seen for the first time.
“It was a quantum jump. A lot of what I experienced as a young kid drives me to where I am today. Air India was one of those character-building things. I loved it. If it had gone from 1960 to 2023 what would it have been like today – the biggest and the best!
Here are excerpts from an interview:
While the Indian government seeks better trade ties with the UAE, it has refused to let bilateral ties down and disrupt aviation connectivity. Why this duplicity?
I think this question is better asked to the Government of India. I can only assume that there may be some concern about what Emirates is up to in the Indian market. But if they were to consult the groups of people and businesses that use Emirates, they would probably find that there is huge support for what we do. And, and we can do more than that. But at the same time, Air India grew its business and mainly bought Boeing 787 or Airbus 350. [among the widebodies], But they are not that big. They’re like 300-seaters. And when you look at the demand from Delhi to New York or Mumbai to Toronto, these are huge markets. So the view could be that they are prioritizing domestic development.
You’ll still need Gulf carriers, as Air India can’t do it all. The demand is so strong with respect to GDP growth, foreign investment. I’m seeing great things – infrastructure, ports, transportation, etc. All this is telling me that here is such a story of development, you cannot disrupt it by imposing bilateral sanctions.
Given that bilateral barriers remain, what would be your growth strategy for India?
We will work with what we have. and we [Dubai] Got only 65,000 seats, out of which we give 5,000 seats to Fly Dubai. We are hoping that the government will recognize the power of what we are talking about and if I can persuade the Air India management, Indian carriers including Air India will say that it is good for us. If you want to liberalize the economy, if you want to make Air India an international carrier, then your bilateral regime and thinking has to change. You can’t expect to grow and allow others to come in. You must have an open sky agreement.
But Emirates is not dependent on any one particular market. We have a very, very broad international market and we have a footprint and a presence. Our brand is pretty ubiquitous. So we will continue to strengthen our operations in many regions in West Asian, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh. And if we have political difficulties, we go ahead and turn around.
Emirates will not stop, we have very ambitious plans. We have a new fleet of 350 coming next year, followed by 777-9s. After that we have 170 aircraft on order, and many more. So the hub in Dubai will continue to grow until we run out of it and have to build a new airport. So it’s a pity. I think India was such an important part of that growth when you think about the blue collar, the white collar, all the professional classes coming out of India, and what’s happening in the UAE and especially Dubai is supporting We do. , What a pity not being able to adjust. It is a matter of great shame. But hopefully they will have a meeting of minds and it will be sorted out. And I would say any help we can give to Air India, not that they’ll ask us, but I mean, it’s one of those things that I’ve never seen Air India as the enemy or their Not threatened by
Would you consider taking a stake in an airline in India or setting up an airline to grow in India?
The answer is not to buy or join another carrier. The answer is to try and explain to the government what they are missing out on, and that $800 to 900 million in revenue is not going to the Indian carriers. This is where we need to spend our time. There is not necessarily an agreement to buy another Indian carrier. This is a kind of Trojan horse about reaching out to India, I would rather explain to the Government of India about the benefits it is likely to bring.
Do you think it would help to have one agreement with the entire UAE, rather than separately for each city-state?
Indeed, the strength of the Indian negotiating position is that they come as one country and can fly from any point to any point depending on the region they choose. So they are not constrained at all, we are constrained because we can fly only up to nine points. And that regional conversation has taken precedence over everything else. So if we did UAE bilateral, and there were 165 or 300 flights in a week, most of them would come to Dubai. More players like Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi are coming into the mix in the United Arab Emirates. But it is the desire of the Government of India that it be zoned.
You traveled a lot on Air India as a young boy in the late 1950s. What memories do you have of your experience?
In the late 50s, I used to regularly fly from London to Singapore on Air India’s Super Constellation, which took about three days to arrive and land in Bombay and visit the Taj Mahal. Or a flight from Dubai via Madras to Singapore. He invented the Six Freedoms in the 1950s. And I’m totally amazed that the first jet I flew on was an Air India 707 in January 1960, when Pan American and BOAC were the only ones that had them. Incredible that the Indians would have it, I couldn’t believe it. As a little boy in short pants… I have that connection with Indian aviation since I was a boy. The question kept popping up in my mind why India with its population base and everything else is not leading the way in civil aviation.
I remember Air India because I had such a ball in my childhood. They were they were very friendly. And I used to sit on these planes for many days. The Super Constellations were really noisy, but I was on the flight deck and they sat me down, and I could see all their pilots doing their jobs. And then when the 707 came out, I thought it was such a really cool product. The food, and the interiors were to die for. I mean, you know you’ve seen these overhead panels that have starlight or air vents and light is coming out. It was a quantum leap. And a lot of what I experienced as a little kid drives me to where I am today because I’m very interested in it. Air India was like character building. I loved it. I saw flatbed for the first time. If it had gone from 1960 to 2023. What would have happened today? Biggest and Best!
Now that you don’t wear shorts, and you are a global aviation leader, what advice do you have for Air India?
I think if they look at Emirates’ product and how successful it has been with the Indian communities here, they probably need to look at how they go about this end-to-end vertically integrated product . It’s not just about planes. This is the customer experience touch point. Whether it’s call center response, the way you monitor your product, the way you design your product, how you execute that product. It just has to be nice. And it has to be delivered in a consistent, high-quality manner. So as we map out the Emirates Way, the fingerprints of design touch every aspect of the product that the customer faces. So in the online world, your website, how do you deliver your goods, how do you reach on a B2C basis, what are you selling, how do you build the website. So it is so easy that my mother of 99 can do it.