Emirates to be world's top wide-body carrier by 2015

Emirates Airlines is on track to become the world's largest operator of wide-body aircraft by 2015, according to a report on Thursday.The Dubai-based carrier will grow its capacity by 9 to 12 percent annually through 2015, The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) said in its report titled ‘Middle Eastern Megacarriers: Gaining Altitude’. Emirates has “nearly tripled capacity and passenger revenues over the past five years, adding 32 new destinations while improving aircraft utilisation, load factors, and yields,” BCG said. “The specific growth rates will depend on how quickly the airline retires some of its older aircraft—to become the world's largest operator of wide-body aircraft.” With a fleet of 157 aircraft and the largest A380 operator in the world, Emirates currently flies to 114 destinations in 67 countries. Despite Emirates’ cash margins decreasing from 28 percent to 23 percent during the past five years, BCG believes that the performance compares better than other international airlines. But Emirates is not the only carrier in the Middle East that is expected to see strong growth over the next five years. Airlines in the region are expected to triple their passenger capacity over the next 20 years, according to BCG. Passenger flows to and from the Middle East are expected to increase by another 45 million passengers over the next five-year period, from 2010 through 2015. "Because the Middle Eastern megacarriers have been early developers of the region as an important hub for long-haul routes—and because they enjoy significant cost advantages—they are well positioned to compete aggressively with more financially constrained carriers," said Rend Stephan, Partner & Managing Director in BCG, Middle East. Middle East airlines saw a 9.7 percent increase in demand in July, outstripping the 8.9 percent capacity increase, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said earlier this month.