International travel is likely to remain subdued until the end of the year as countries reintroduce tough restrictions to control COVID-19 infections, the head of Dubai-based airline Emirates has said.
"It is going to take longer than I would have hoped and I think probably we are going to see some difficulties. We are not going to see capacity return that I hoped in July and August, I think, maybe [it will return] in the last quarter this year," Emirates president Tim Clark told a virtual summit by aviation consultancy CAPA.
Clark said that he expects that governments will continue to close borders and place restrictions on international travel until they get a better understanding of how to deal with the new variants of COVID-19.
The 71-year-old, a respected industry veteran, has tended to be more bullish about a rebound throughout the crisis than many of his peers.
Lack Of A Domestic Market
Unlike some other airlines, Emirates lacks a domestic market to cushion it against the downturn in international travel.
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