"Our seat factors are still in mid 70s... On some flights we have over 80 percent," said the chairman of the region's largest carrier Emirates, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum.

Emirates' forecast for the remainder of 2009 is "good", Sheikh Ahmed told reporters on the sidelines of the annual Arabian Travel Market in Dubai.

"I think we will have an early summer, especially with Ramadan... (starting) around mid-August. Before that, we will see a lot of traffic," he added, as Gulf citizens customarily take their holidays before the Muslim fasting month.

Sheikh Ahmed said Emirates was not planning to slow down its take-up of new aircraft over the next three years and foresaw "no delays in 2009, 2010 and 2011."

Emirates is the largest single customer for the Airbus A380 superjumbo with an order for 58 of the aircraft. Four of the jets have been delivered so far.

It is also expected to be the largest operator of Boeing's long-range 777 with the pending delivery of 32 of the aircraft.

Sheikh Ahmed said he did not expect the economic slowdown to affect Dubai's plans to expand its international airport — the region's busiest — insisting that the financing was entirely secured.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) last week released figures for international air traffic for March which showed passenger demand 11.1 percent down on the same period of last year.

It added that Middle East carriers "were the only ones to experience growth in March" at 4.7 percent, but said the growth was still "out of balance with the 13.1 percent increase in capacity."

Qatar Airways, another fast growing carrier that is owned by the government of gas-rich Qatar, shrugged off the global financial crisis, announcing the opening of six new routes across India, Australia and Europe.

"Whatever is happening around the world will not affect our growth plans... All our expansion is pressing ahead on schedule," the carrier's chief executive officer Akbar al-Baker told reporters.

Aircraft manufacturers slowing growth

Baker boasted that he was limiting the new routes to six only because aircraft manufacturers could not deliver faster, saying that Qatar Airways has 200 aircraft worth $40-billion on order, and that the carrier will announce new orders at the Paris air show in June.

"Who told you it is a tough market for us?" Baker retorted when asked about the rationale behind the carrier's order book.

"We are very positive about what is happening in the world... We are a very resilient company."

Baker said the carrier had seen its business grow 23 percent in the first quarter.

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates which was set up by the oil-rich emirate of Abu Dhabi in late 2003, announced a new diamond first class, featuring in-seat massage and sliding doors for sleep-time privacy.

"When the market corrects, we will be well positioned to serve premium customers," Etihad's chief executive officer James Hogan said, adding that carrier had achieved a seat load factor of 75 percent in the first quarter.

"Seat factor is not the issue. It is the yield. At the moment, we're seeing discount worldwide out of Europe and Australia," he said, adding that business on Gulf and southeast Asian routes nonetheless remained strong.

"I'm confident we can stay on track for the year, but summer is key.

"We hit our numbers in 2007 and 2008. We hit our first quarter numbers... I'm still bullish... about breaking even in 2010 and moving to profitability."

AFP