Emirates could cut up to 9,000 jobs

THE scale of Covid-19’s impact on Emirates has been revealed for the first time with the airline’s president saying they will “probably” have to cut up to 9,000 jobs.

Emirates had 60,000 staff prior to the crisis and announced on May 31 it had axed roles but did not reveal how many jobs were cut.

Sir Tim Clark has now admitted it removed a tenth of its staff, which would leave 54,000 jobs after 6,000 were removed.

However, Sir Tim added: “We will probably have to let go of a few more, probably up to 15 per cent.”

Before May’s cuts, Emirates was the sole holdout among the Gulf’s three major East-West carriers on retaining staff. Abu Dhabibased Etihad and Dohabased Qatar Airways axed staff as countries shut down their airspace.

Sir Tim acknowledged the carrier, owned by a Dubai sovereign wealth fund, was “not as badly off as others” and was “heading for one of our best years ever” prior to the pandemic.