Airline News
Emirates worth $40 billion, takes Amedeo A380s
January 27th 2015
Emirates Airline would be worth $40 billion if it went public, said founding chief executive, Sir Maurice Flanagan (86), more than four times its net worth in 2012. “The last figures I saw had Emirates worth at something like $40 billion if it went public. Emirates has overtaken Delta as the second biggest airline in the world. Read More » The only bigger one is the combination of American and US Airways. They're too big. Airline economies of scale go in reverse after a certain point,” said Flanagan, who was speaking at the Capital Club’s ‘People who shaped Dubai series’. He stepped down as Emirates’ vice chairman in April 2013.
However, the former chief said an initial public offering (IPO) was unlikely in the foreseeable future, given that Sheikh Mohammed, ruler of the United Arab Emirates and key influencer at Emirates, was not keen on the idea. Flanagan did say, though, an IPO would end any discussion about Emirates being subsidised by the government, He repeated that it was “treated just like any other airline that is in Dubai”.
Meanwhile, Emirates has come to the rescue of the Airbus A380 programme. Last week it agreed to take four A380 aircraft, originally intended for Amedeo to give the company more time to find airline customers for the giant airliner. Amedeo will receive the first of 20 A380s it ordered in 2017. Although the A380 has struggled to find new customers, Emirates’ current chief executive, Sir Tim Clark, told Bloomberg at the World Economic Forum in Davos Emirates would buy 100 more A380s if Airbus decided to launch a re-engined ‘neo’ version. “What we’ve said is if you are going to do the A380neo, we are in for 100 [aircraft]. We are putting it on the table; we’ll start it off for you,” Clark said.
