Dubai: It could be mid-2024 before aircraft product returns to some normalcy after an exceptionally difficult phase for airlines wanting to expand their fleet, says Tim Clark, Emirates’ President. The Dubai airline has 165 aircraft on order.

“I think like everybody else, they (Airbus and Boeing) realised fairly late in the day they would face supply chain challenges post-pandemic,” said Clark. “By which time, they had laid off staff and marginalised a lot of other resources of go into production of aircraft (leading to supply chain challenges).

He remains confident these issues would sort itself out by mid-next year. “Supply chains will respond to demand. As long as demand is there, they will sort themselves out, which is why probably in the middle of next year, you'll get to some degree of normalcy.”

However, pre-dating the ongoing supply chain issues is the pursuit of fuel economy by the aviation industry, through reducing the weight out of aircraft and propulsion. “This is not nothing to do with supply chain,” said Clark. “It was a belief they could produce the technologies and the materials to drive those technologies that will give you the full fuel reductions that we all aspire to. The fact of the matter is, they caught themselves short.

“They overpromised, they couldn't deliver and the technology wasn't there for them. Now, they're paying the price.”

More to follow…