Skift Take
Never accuse Emirates' Clark of big talk and big ambitions. But many hurdles -- including partner Qantas' own ego -- stand in the way of lucrative trans-pacific routes.
Emirates, the airline with the most international traffic, said it wants to extend its alliance with Qantas Airways Ltd. across the Pacific Ocean, allowing passengers to fly around the world on Airbus SAS A380s.
The carriers have scope to link Qantas’s A380 flights into Los Angeles with routes the Gulf carrier seeks to operate from its Dubai hub, Emirates President Tim Clark said in a phone interview. The partnership won provisional approval from Australia’s antitrust regulator last month.
“If the timing is right and the two aircraft meet, with Qantas and Emirates you could go around the world with A380s,” he said yesterday. “I’m sure we could do trans-Pacific business on Qantas metal as part of this overall deal.”
Emirates would push for the alliance’s extension into trans-Pacific routes only if Qantas’s Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce and his management back the idea, Clark said. Shares of the Sydney-based airline have risen more than 40 percent
