"I think probably by the year 2022/23, 2023/24, we will see things coming back to some degree of normality and Emirates will be operating its network as it was and, hopefully, as successfully as it was," he said in a webcast interview.

The Dubai-based airline was flying to 157 destinations in 83 countries before it grounded passenger flights in March and had since operated limited services.

Earlier, Emirates said it had made some staff redundant due to the impact of the pandemic, with two company sources saying trainee pilots and cabin crew had been affected.

"We reviewed all possible scenarios in order to sustain our business operations, but have come to the conclusion that we unfortunately have to say goodbye to a few of the wonderful people that worked with us," a spokeswoman said.

"The company is doing everything possible to protect the workforce wherever we can," she added.

The state-owned airline, which has about 60,000 employees and is part of the Emirates Group, did not say how many staff had been affected by the job cuts.

Emirates said on May 10 that a Dubai government commitment to provide it with "equity injections" would allow it to preserve its skilled workforce.

Emirates Group's airport services subsidiary Dnata has also laid off some staff and placed thousands of others on unpaid leave.

Australian Associated Press