International airline leader Emirates is seeing signs of weakening demand, particularly affected by the unrest in Hong Kong, according to statements from chairman Tim Clark during a press conference on Wednesday where he also criticized global aircraft manufacturers.

Growth is slowing in Emirates' business, weighed down by trade disputes and political unrest in several countries. Hong Kong has been a particularly public problem area, with a 10 percentage point decline in seat factor, but there are more concerns. Cargo demand is also "significantly impacted," Tim Clark said.

The global commercial aviation market will shrink by 1-2 percent this year, he predicted.

”"We are not in a favorable situation now, but we have to deal with it. At the moment I don't see any green shoots," said the chairman to illustrate the absence of signs of a turnaround, which he believes could take 3-5 years.

The Dubai airline is also unhappy with the aircraft catalogue in the global aviation market, which has become more urgent as the need to shift from larger aircraft types to smaller ones. The current market for aircraft manufacturing ”is completely meaningless,” said the Emirates chairman, influenced by a variety of factors.

”"We cannot be sure when the Boeing 777X will be ready and we have no confidence in either the Rolls-Royce engines for the 787 or the General Electric engines. Similar problems exist around the Airbus A350, A330 and A330 Neo. We will now not accept any more failing aircraft until they meet our requirements," said Tim Clark.

He also sees no consensus between authorities and the manufacturer regarding Boeing's best-selling accident model 737 Max, which has been subject to a global flight ban after two crashes in a short period of time. 

Source: news agency dirket.se