The president of long-haul carrier Emirates said Tuesday that an initial public offering of stock in the airline could happen as Dubai tries to boost its local financial market, while promising that its fleet of iconic double-decker jumbo jets would soon ply the skies again.

Tim Clark of state-owned Emirates told reporters at the Dubai Air Show that a proposal to sell shares of Emirates “is out there” after his boss, Emirates chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, commented on the possibility.

The city-state this month announced plans to list its state-owned electricity company and other government-backed firms to raise liquidity and expand the local Dubai Financial Market so it can compete with bigger counterparts in the region. The market also has seen major players go private in recent months, as well as a fraud investigation target one major real estate developer listed in Dubai.

Clark described Emirates, long the jewel of the state-linked companies that make up what analysts call “Dubai Inc.,” as attractive to future investors.

“The pandemic has set us back of course, but as you know the profitability of Emirates is a well-known fact,” he said. “We will restore that in the next six, eight months. We’re already on the path to do that.”

Since the pandemic struck, Emirates grounded dozens of its iconic Airbus A380 double-decker jets, many visible from the tarmac at Dubai Air Show. The carrier burned through $7.1 billion over the past year and half, forcing it to take nearly $3.8 billion in cash aid from Dubai’s government.

Returning its 120 A380s to the skies is key to Emirates’ recovery, and Clark said the airline must service the debt on them. He was blunt about the planes’ value to Emirates, noting that 80% of the carrier’s profitability came from the planes before the pandemic.

“To have a $450 million aircraft sitting on the ground doing nothing for two years is a challenge,” he said, adding, “When the borders are open to us again, there’s absolutely no reason why we should not be expanding. … Once we get back to where we were, we will then grow again.”

Emirates meanwhile announced that late next year it would start retrofitting 105 of its wide-body planes, including Boeing 777 and the superjumbo A380s, with a new cabin class called Premium Economy, which offers much more space than coach but at a lower fare than business class.