Emirates airline, the Arab world’s largest carrier, had a ‘tough’ year in 2010 and was hurt by political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, its president said on Monday.

Tim Clark said that Emirates, which reports its results for the second half of 2010 on May 10, still managed to stay “on course.”

Clark, speaking at a travel industry event in the Gulf Arab emirate, said fuel accounted for 43 percent of the Dubai government-owned airline’s costs.

In March, Clark said load factors — how full its planes are — were coming back up after being reduced by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

The carrier had scaled back flights in the wake of unrest in North Africa and Bahrain. It also dropped plans for a bond to finance expansion after the upheaval made rates more expensive. (Reporting by Praveen Menon; Editing by Dinesh Nair)

REUTERS