Boss of the giant Dubai-based airline Emirates revealed the first confirmed effect on flight bookings to the United States since President Trump first issued a travel ban. The new President issued a controversial executive order, which banned nationalities from seven mainly-Muslim countries to the U.S.
Sir Tim Clark said that the travel ban triggered an immediate fall in booking rates from Dubai to the US of over one-third.
In ITB travel fair in Berlin, he said that the first US travel order saw the booking velocity fall by 35 per cent overnight. The effect it had was instantaneous according to the figures. He continued that bookings had regained some ground but were still not back to the predicted levels. Adding to the intimidation, he said when would it recapture the original booking curve is anyone’s guess.
Previous surveys citing a “Trump slump” have been based on online searches, rather than actual sales. With its massive presence, emirates have at least 10 flights a day to a range of cities. However, according to other travel experts on the same day of the fair, Sir Tim’s rivals had claimed the travel ban had had no effect.
Akbar Al Baker, chief executive of Qatar Airways said that they didn’t see any drop in traffic. IAG, which includes British Airways and the Spanish airline Iberia, revealed that last month business to North America lagged behind the global performance.
