Emirates president Tim Clark blames Iran war for delaying his retirement

Tim Clark, president of Emirates, had his exit timed. The airline had just booked its highest profit ever, and the 76-year-old figured that was his moment — until the Iran war broke out. According to Bloomberg, Clark put it bluntly at the annual economic summit hosted in Berlin by Süddeutsche Zeitung: he thought the time had come, then the war started, and now here he is again.

It's the second time outside events have upended his retirement. The first was the 2020 pandemic. Clark, a British citizen with a knighthood, has worked for Emirates since the 1980s and is credited with helping turn Dubai into a global connections hub, per Bloomberg. Emirates is the world's largest long-haul carrier, so the industry tracks its succession planning closely — and Clark didn't discuss it. Named as possible successors: chief commercial officer Adnan Kazim, chief operations officer Adel Ahmed Al Redha and Ghaith Al-Ghaith, who heads the airline's regional partner flydubai.

The war's damage shows up in the numbers. Emirates last week reported profit before tax of AED 3.7 billion ($1.0 billion) for the six months through Sept. 30, down 66% from a record AED 11.4 billion ($3.1 billion) a year earlier. The carrier blamed regional conflict for disrupting operations and pushing up jet fuel prices.

The Iran war began Feb. 28 and shut the Strait of Hormuz. Drones hit Dubai International Airport in March, forcing a temporary halt in operations, and Emirates cancelled thousands of flights. Passenger traffic fell 22% in the half to 21.8 million, and by Sept. 30 the airline was flying 91% of its pre-disruption network — still short of where it started.