DUBAI/PARIS:Tim Clark will retire as the president of Emirates Airline at the end of June 2020 after more than three decades at the state-controlled business that has helped to transform Dubai into one of the world’s major travel crossroads.
Emirates Chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum said on Tuesday in an internal memo to staff, reviewed by Reuters, that Clark would stay on as an adviser to the company.
“Through wars, economic recessions, disasters natural or manmade, and various industry upheavals, Tim has ably steered and grown Emirates to its standing today as the world’s largest international airline, and an eminent player in the global airline industry,” Sheikh Ahmed said in the memo.
An Emirates spokeswoman confirmed the retirement to Reuters.
Clark, 70, joined the airline as a founding member in 1985, having previously worked at Gulf Air and Caledonian Airways.
The British national became Emirates’ president in 2003.
“Tim is a giant of the industry. He had the vision behind Emirates and has cultivated the airline to where it is today,” said independent aviation consultant John Strickland.
Knighted in 2014 for his services to British prosperity and the aviation industry, Clark has since been referred to by many in the industry, including those at Emirates, as “Sir Tim.”
Sheikh Ahmed, a member of Dubai’s ruling family who has been the airline’s chairman since inception, praised Clark as being central to Emirates success and Dubai’s emergence as a global aviation hub.
“His achievements are too many to recount individually, but they will all be remembered,” he said in the memo.
Emirates, profitable for the past 31 years, has been crucial to putting Dubai on the map and its transformation into a global financial and tourism hub.
Launched in 1985 with aircraft leased from Pakistan International Airlines, Emirates today operates a fleet of 270 aircraft to 159 destinations, according to its website.
It carried close to 60 million passengers in its last financial year, and operates the single largest fleet of Airbus A380 superjumbo jets.
The airline has in recent years faced a slowdown in growth.
In a separate email to staff this month, it said that from next year it would no longer offer discounted tickets to friends of employees, citing the impact those reduced fares have had on revenue.
Emirates’ hub, Dubai International Airport, has been the world’s busiest for international passengers since 2014 when it overtook London’s Heathrow airport.
Clark departs as the major airline sets upon a new growth strategy as it retires older A380 jets and starts receiving smaller Airbus A350s and Boeing 787s ordered this year.
Emirates’ long-serving boss to hand over the controls next year
https://arab.news/55pcu
Emirates’ long-serving boss to hand over the controls next year
- Tim Clark to retire as Emirates president in June 2020
- He has led the state-controlled airline since 2003 and helped to transform Dubai in the global travel hub
Reforms target sustained growth in Saudi real estate sector, says Al-Hogail
RIYADH: The Real Estate Future Forum opened its doors for its first day at the Four Seasons Riyadh, with prominent global and local figures coming together to engage with one of the Kingdom’s most prospering sectors.
With new regulations, laws, and investments underway, 2026 is expected to be a year of momentous progress for the real estate sector in the Kingdom.
The forum opened with a video highlighting the sector’s progress in the Kingdom, during which an emphasis was placed on the forum’s ability to create global reach, representation, as well as agreements worth a cumulative $50 billion
With the Kingdom now opening up real estate ownership to foreigners, this year’s Real Estate Future Forum is placing a great deal of importance on this new milestone and its desired outcomes and impact on the market.
Aside from this year’s forum’s unique discussions surrounding those developments, it will also be the first of its kind to launch the Real Estate Excellence Award and announce its finalist during the three-day summit.
Minister of Municipalities and Housing and Chairman of the Real Estate General Authority Majed Al-Hogail took to stage to address the diverse audience on the real estate market’s achievements thus far and its milestones to come.
Of those important milestones, he underscored “real estate balance” as a key pillar of the sector’s decisions to implement regulatory tools “with the aim of constant growth which can maintain the vitality of this sector.” He pointed to examples of those regulatory measures, such as the White Land Tax.
On 2025’s progress, the minister highlighted the jump in Saudi family home ownership, which went from 47 percent in 2016 to 66 percent in 2025, keeping the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 goal of 70 percent by the end of the decade on track.
He said the opening of the real estate market to foreigners is an indicator of the sector’s maturity under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He said his ministry plans to build over 300,000 housing units in Riyadh over the next three years.
Speaking to Arab News, Al-Hogail elaborated on these achievements, stating: “Today, demand, especially local demand, has grown significantly. The mortgage market has reached record levels, exceeding SR900 billion ($240 billion) in mortgage financing, we are now seeing SRC (Saudi Real Estate Refinance Co.) injecting both local and foreign liquidity on a large scale, reaching more than SR54 billion”
Al-Hogail described Makkah and Madinah as unique and special points in the Kingdom’s real estate market as he spoke of the sector’s attractiveness.
“Today, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has become, in international investment indices, one that takes a good share of the Middle East, and based on this, many real estate investment portfolios have begun to come in,” he said.
Al-Ahsa Gov. Prince Saud bin Talal bin Badr Al-Saud told Arab News the Kingdom’s ability to balance both heritage sites with real estate is one of its strengths.
He said: “Actually the real estate market supports the whole infrastructure … the whole ecosystem goes back together in the foundation of the real estate; if we have the right infrastructure we can leverage more on tourism plus we can leverage more on the quality of life … we’re looking at 2030, this is the vision … to have the right infrastructure the time for more investors to come in real estate, entertainment, plus tourism and culture.”
