AIRLINES -COPE- TRADE WAR

AIRLINES must be ''flexible'' to deal with the consequences of a trade war between the United States and China , a senior Emirates executive told Reuters in Santiago on Friday.

Earlier in the day, the United States and China imposed duties on $34 billion { Pound 25.6 billion}  worth of each others imports, with Beijing accusing Washington of triggering the ''largest scale trade war'' as the world's two biggest economies escalated their conflict.

"As an airline, you always have to be flexible, you have to be fluid in whatever you are doing, Hubert Frach , a divisional senior vice president for Emirates, said on the sidelines of an event in Chile's capital.

"If one market is showing some weaknesses, you either work harder and you try to find new market segments, or  mid-term or long-term you will allocate your fleet and you change the shape of your network."

Frach was visiting the  South American country for the inauguration of a new route that connects  Santiago and Dubai via  Sao Paolo.[Agencies]