The Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group, Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, has alluded to a possible closer partnership between the Dubai-based flagship carrier and budget carrier flydubai (FZ, Dubai International).

Earlier this year, Emirates President Tim Clark said studies were currently underway concerning the potential addition of narrowbody capacity to the Emirates fleet. The aircraft would be used to open up new routes whose demand may not require the use of the carrier's B777 aircraft initially.

As such, when questioned by Gulf News on enhanced synergies between Emirates and flydubai given the latter's fleet consists entirely of B737-800s, Al Maktoum said something could be done. “I cannot spell it out. But you will hear something about it in the near future,” he said.

During the same interview, Al Maktoum also commented that he hoped to have a final decision on an order for either the A350-900/1000 or the B787-9/10 by the time the Dubai Airshow takes place (November 12-16). Emirates terminated an agreement with Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) for fifty A350-900s and twenty A350-1000s back in June 2014 citing the need to reevaluate its fleet requirements.