EK vice chairman: "Selling Emirates would make sense"
 

Sir Maurice Flanagan, executive vice chairman and one of the founders of Emirates Airline, has revealed that “it would make sense” to sell the airline in the future, in order to help service Dubai’s mountain of debt. Experts estimates that such a sale would generate up to US$11bn.

Full story: http://www.arabianbusiness.com/world...an-456597.html

A potential sale to Abu Dhabi is the only realistic idea, nobody really has $10 bln to throw out there for EK. (with the exception of a few other Asian countries) But this has been rumoured for ages... I honestly don't see you any potential sale occurring when EK is the only moneymaking asset the government has left! Burj Al Arab ie. Jumeirah Group; Burj Khalifa, several other Dubai businesses are all Abu Dhabi's.

However promising that EK's financials will be released this week according to the article! :D

I think it was one of those off the cuff remarks. I also think that IF it were to happen, it would struggle to clear the regulatory hurdles (ie in the US or EU).

It makes sense to sell, from the debt point of view. No big revelation there, tbh. But it also makes sense to hold on since Emirates is highly profitable.

Which makes more sense is the question.

EK vice chairman: "Selling Emirates would make sense"
 

Things in Dubai are getting better than they've been in a few years, and selling the one thing that makes you a lot of money and accounts for 20% of your state's GDP doesn't make very good sense.

Only if it was another airline that was the buying party.

And I'm not sure the US/EU competition authorities would have jurisdication over such a sale. I don't see that it has much impact on the average European or US citizen, either - the routes on which Emirates competes with any individual US or European airilne, i.e. the overlap, is quite small.

Just float it on the stock market. It is a SALE from the owner's point of view but not exactly the sale to some business man alike...

There is no need to sell EK. $11bn is just a number at the end of the day. I am not sure about the relation between writing off a bad debt with cash from the sale of a cash cow.

It would be like shooting your own foot then asking the doctor to chop off your healthy foot so that the one with the hole can heal.

Apart from Dubai's problems being grossly over stated, there are plenty of other cash options around emirates such as debt, both at the company and holdco level, and an ipo which could yield significant cash without giving up control of such a strategic asset for the country.