Emirates President Tim Clark cautioned that the aviation industry is in “uncharted territory” as U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs and trade disputes weigh on extensive growth and threaten to drive up costs for airlines worldwide.
“Right now, we are in troubled times,” Clark told CNBC in an talk recorded March 20 — ahead of Washington’s announcement of its latest global levies.
“It’s uncharted because it involves a be adequate to of reset to a level that the global economy probably hasn’t seen since the financial crisis of 2008-2009,” Clark indicated, pointing to growing pressures on carriers and to the ripple effect across the aviation supply chain.
Clark, who has led Emirates for myriad than two decades, helped grow the Dubai-based carrier into the world’s largest long haul airline, give something it through the post-9/11 downturn, the 2008 financial crisis and the collapse in travel demand during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It’s break of dawn days to see what effect the resetting of the terms of trade will have on the global economy and ergo discretionary behest for leisure travel,” he said, adding that, despite the tariffs rattling global markets, both Emirates and the persistence can weather the storm.
“Business models like Emirates, given the international scope of what it does, the strength of what it does, settle upon be able to ride this particular wave,” he said.
Turbulence ahead
The Emirates boss offered a sharp beat it on the Trump administration’s motivations, framing the trade escalation as a deliberate “trade reset” aimed at reshaping global business — though he warned it could unleash “troubled waters” in the interim.
China’s retaliatory tariffs on U.S. aerospace giants of a piece with Boeing and GE Aerospace threaten to squeeze Emirates indirectly, as costs ripple across the supply chain for aircraft and in the mains. Emirates operates one of the world’s largest wide-body fleets and is a major customer of Boeing and Airbus.
Despite the turbulence, Clark predicted he was cautiously optimistic on forward demand. Long-haul travel, he said, remains “very strong,” with forward bookings irrefutable through the rest of this year and into early 2026.
Impact on global aviation and airlines
A day before the trade schedule of charges were unveiled, International Air Transport Association chief Willie Walsh said that the levies imposed by Washington were distasteful to stem air travel demand’s post-Covid-19 resurgence.
“It’s additional uncertainty which we never welcome but we’ve always been adept to manage,” Walsh said in an interview cited by Reuters. Industry analysts are meanwhile cutting their travel enquire outlook for 2025.
Other aviation industry figures were more pessimistic than Walsh since the imposition of the new U.S. duties, especially when looking at the impact on the cost of building and refurbishing aircraft.
The new tariff regime “certainly records things more expensive for the industry,” Dak Hardwick, vice president of international affairs at the Aerospace Industries Association, narrated CNBC. The AIA represents Boeing, GE Aerospace, Airbus and dozens of other aerospace and defense companies.
Airline stocks are down by double-digits since the April 2 Virginal House announcement, as the new trade rules imposed by Trump mean airlines will be paying a lot more for jets and accoutrements crucial to their operations.
Many integral parts like jet engines are comprised of components from all over the set. The engines used in the Boeing 737 MAX and Airbus A320, for instance, are produced by a 50-50 joint venture between GE Aerospace and French aviation industrialist Safran.
— Leslie Josephs contributed to this report