“Good luck to them” says Emirates’ Sir Tim Clark on rival carriers investing trillions

“Good luck to them” says Emirates’ Sir Tim Clark on rival carriers investing trillions

The rise of a new airline in Saudi Arabia will be good for the region and good for aviation, said Emirates Airline President Tim Clark, as he wished them “good luck” at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) held in Dubai today.

Clark said the announcement of two new airlines in the kingdom over the last year was going to be “very interesting”.

“In the case of Saudi, you are going to have three airlines, Riyadh Air, NEOM and [existing carrier] Saudia, this is going to be very interesting, to watch how this will go on,” he said, speaking in a discussion on the second day of the event.

“Riyadh has been the most recent part of the Saudi aviation policy. Saudia is going to think, ‘I’m going to need a piece of this as well’. And NEOM is going to be a major development in the East of Saudi Arabia.

“If they are going to spend trillions of dollars, it’s great for the area, it’s great for the aviation industry, and good luck to them as far as I am concerned. Does that affect us? No, I don’t think so.”

Clark told the audience that he was “flattered” that new carriers were using Emirates as