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Emirates airline's chairman on Wednesday confirmed that he was considering the possibility of taking on aircraft that have been cancelled by other airlines.
Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman and chief executive of the Dubai-based airline, also said that delivery of some of its aircraft currently on order will be delayed, something he was "not happy" about.
He said that some of the 58 Airbus A380 aircraft on order would be delayed “but will only be for short periods”.
Sheikh Ahmed said the delays may be for one to two months, but declined to comment on the issue of compensation.
At a press conference to launch Dubai Airshow 2009, he also confirmed that Emirates was considering taking on aircraft that other airlines have cancelled due to the global downturn.
His comments follow those earlier on Wednesday by airline president Tim Clark who said the current fleet was operating “flat out”.
He said existing orders had been allocated to new services, prompting the Emirates to assess the ability of Airbus and Boeing to source extra planes.
“We’re sounding out who’s got more just in case we decide to go ahead,” Clark said. “The fleet order we have in place is probably not as big as it needs to be.”
Clark didn’t say how many more planes might be required.
He added that a further five-month delay in the delivery of Airbus A380s could affect Emirates' growth next year.
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