Emirates will be the "market maker" for the Airbus A380, the Gulf carrier's senior vice-president of corporate treasury Nirmal Govindadas argued today.
Speaking at the Airline Economics Growth Frontiers conference in Dubai, he addressed what he referred to as the "noise" over A380 residual values following Singapore Airlines' disclosure that it will not extend the lease on its first example of the double-deck type.
Govindadas stresses that anyone investing in an Emirates A380 should consider how "core" the product is to the airline.
"We are going to be the market makers for that aircraft," he adds. "What is the probability of us using it beyond 12 years? I think the answer is clear... We want to keep it for a long time."
Airbus's head of corporate and investor marketing Mark Pearman-Wright was equally upbeat about the A380 at the ISTAT Europe conference in Barcelona on 27 September. "The world will need more A380s," he said.
However, the manufacturer earlier this year disclosed plans to cut A380 production rates. Since lessor Amedeo firmed a 20-unit deal in February 2014, the programme has had more cancellations (10) than new orders (five), Flight Fleets Analyzer indicates.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
