Exclusive by James Wilkinson

The outlook for Emirates in the third and fourth quarters of 2009 is positive despite the economic slowdown, according to the airline’s vice president for Australasia, Stephen Pearse.

In an exclusive video interview with SpiceNews, Pearse said the Airbus A380 superjumbo had also been living up to expectations on routes to the Middle East and New Zealand, while he remained optimistic about the success of the airline’s third daily Dubai-Sydney flight, which launches in December.

Pearse also downplayed suggestions of South Pacific flights launching in the near future, following media reports that Emirates would fly between Australia and Fiji in the not-too-distant future.

The hopes of Emirates flying the A380 to Christchurch from Australia were also dashed, with Pearse ruling the operation out, despite the city redeveloping the airport to make it A380 capable.

For the full interview click on the image above.