One of my favourite gigs, over the years, has been to host CAPA‘s Aviation Awards for Excellence. It’s given each year with its World Aviation Summit.
As part of the awards night, I get to interview the winners and have one-on-one with the big winners of the night, including Aviation Executive of the Year, Airline of the Year etc. Through these conversations, I have learnt about the industry and the movers and shakers who shape and influence aviation.
One key award is the CAPA’s Hall of Fame which celebrates the greatest of aviation legends – individuals who have made a substantial difference to the industry.
Last year’s inductee was Tim Clark, president of Emirates, the airline everyone’s watching – world’s largest A380 order, a ground-breaking alliance with Qantas, among its achievements – and who knows what else to come as the Dubai-based airline rides on a new wave of optimism that’s sweeping the city following its win of the World 2020 Expo.
In this interview, which took place in Amsterdam last November, I got Clark to look back at the roots of Emirates and how the airline has remained true to its original business model from the late 1980s, despite achieving massive growth. Mostly, listen to what he says at the end about the birth of low cost airlines and whose name he mentions as the pioneer of it all.
It was a privilege interviewing this great aviator.
