For Emirates, the Dubai Airshow has always been the stage to present its big ambitions. It has routinely announced its aircraft orders there, including a staggering commitment for 150 Boeing 777Xs and 50 more Airbus A380s at the 2013 show. But eight years and one pandemic later, orders of the same scale are highly unlikely as Emirates and its peers adjust to the new realities. Coming out of the novel coronavi-rus pandemic, the airline landscape in the Gulf has changed. In the early phase of the pandemic, Emirates was essentially grounded for several months and has since slowly built back an operation that is still far below 2019 levels. Its primary rival in the region, Qatar Airways, has used the crisis as an opportunity to build its share of the remaining air transport market-Qatar Airways ranked ahead of Emirates in seat capacity during some periods in 2020 and 2021. Only recently has Emirates built back to the leading position, reclaiming its place as the largest international airline globally, followed by Ryanair and Qatar, according to CAPA - Centre for Aviation data for the last week of October. Etihad Airways, once equally ambitious, scaled back long ago and is now less than a quarter of Emirates' current size.
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