Emirates’ Tim Clark: China airlines’ rise to affect all carriers

The global expansion of Chinese airlines will ‘significantly’ impact the sector, says Emirates chief Tim Clark.

Emirates president Sir Tim Clark in Sydney on Wednesday. Picture: Hollie Adams

The international expansion of Chinese airlines will “significantly” affect the global aviation sector, Gulf carrier Emirates president Sir Tim Clark says.

Sir Tim, in Australia this week to renew the Emirates partnership with Qantas, said the rise of ­Chinese airlines was “something that we all need to watch, not just the Gulf carriers”.

“I think global aviation is going to be significantly affected by the growth of the Chinese carriers,” Sir Tim told The Australian.

“And they have, it seems, aspirations for global reach ... I now think we are seeing the beginning of an outreach, call it what you like.”

Chinese airlines have been boosting capacity and sending bigger aircraft to Australia in the wake of an open skies-style agreement struck between the two countries last December that got rid of restrictions on passenger ­capacity for both sides.

China Southern is expected to put on three flights a week between Guangzhou and Cairns from December. Xiamen Airlines is putting on a twice-weekly link between Melbourne and Hang­zhou, while Air China will start ­direct flights between Beijing and Brisbane.

The capacity boost has added to competition on international routes. According to figures from the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics, Emirates has 8.8 per cent share of passenger traffic flying into and out of Australia last year, up from 6.8 per cent in 2006.

China Southern Airlines is now in the top 10 for carrying international passengers to and from Australia, taking 2.9 per cent last year.

Sir Tim said he did not expect Qantas’s ambition to fly non-stop from Australia’s eastern seaboard to destinations such as London and New York within five years would have a big impact on airport hubs in the Gulf.

The prospect of carriers using long-range planes will allow more travellers to fly without a break, which observers have noted could affect airlines whose business model is based on an airport hub.

But Sir Tim said the Emirates A380 superjumbo “scoops up” more than 40 destinations, while planes that could go super-long-haul destinations “are real niche aircraft, horses for courses”.

“But will it be a game changer for the Middle Eastern hubs? No.”

He said Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners and Airbus A350-900 ­already had long ranges.

“I think it will just make life more interesting for the aviation community because they can offer these range of products and meet the demand of principally the corporate segments, where there’s real money,” he said.

Sir Tim also gave an emphatic backing to better use of technologies, such as biometrics for ­security.

“As more and more of these acts affect what we’re doing, and the quicker they apply the technology, which is already there for them to use, I think we’ll get dare I say it, an improvement,’’ he said.

With technologies including artificial intelligence and robotics “we can actually assess everything from a drawing pin to a nuclear bomb in your hand baggage”.

“If it’s done right and people are prepared to put the investment into it — because it can’t all be the airlines that do it — then it will be a better place for the travelling public to be in,” he said. “It’s because of these challenges that we’ve accelerated the understanding and application of technology in those processes. So in an obtuse way, by doing what these bad guys have done, they’ve made us all think that we need to be quick.”