After years of eye-catching expansion, the big Gulf carriers have spent much of the last 18 months taking stock, with a resulting impact on traffic and capacity growth.

Emirates' decision to take up to 36 more Airbus A380s offers life-support to a programme at a point when the airframer had been openly talking about the possibility of its closure.

Airlines headline figures for 2017 are impressive, reflecting another year of rising traffic and impressive profits.