BERLIN, June 9 (Reuters): Emirates will roll out incentives aimed at winning back customers worried about the protracted Iran war, focusing on safety and reliable travel connections rather than lower fares, the Gulf airline's President Tim Clark told Reuters on Tuesday.
The state-backed airline will stick to its strategy of maintaining flight schedules despite rising costs, Clark said in his first interview with a global news agency since the conflict began in late February, hitting Middle Eastern airlines.
Instead, it will offer "all sorts of incentives other than price" to encourage passengers to return, Clark said, even as talks to end the conflict drag on and attacks around the Gulf have flared in recent days.
"That could be new means of ensuring their safety of operation, for instance," he said on the sidelines of an industry summit in Berlin, adding the airline would also address concerns about cancelled flights and people getting stranded.
"We'll take care of all of that, including flying them on other carriers if necessary to bring them home or get the kids into school."
Clark also said Emirates was in talks with governments and regulators to ease restrictions on Middle East airspace, which has been constrained by the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has issued conflict-zone warnings advising airlines against flying over parts of the Gulf and Middle East.
"We are talking to them," Clark said, referring to governments in the region, while acknowledging regulators' duty to protect passengers. "We rely on governments to be a little less restrictive in the warnings they issue about travelling across the Middle East."
Emirates to offer incentives, safety assurances as Iran war hits travel
FE Team | Published: June 09, 2026 22:45:30
Emirates to offer incentives, safety assurances as Iran war hits travel
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