Emirates President Tim Clark has said the airline’s owners are working bring the airline together with Flydubai under one unit in plans that could bear fruit within the next 18 months.

“We are minded to accelerate a greater joining of the hip, of what we do, there’s a lot of work going on there to extract value for the shareholder,” Clark told reporters during a briefing at the Paris Air Show.

“We could do things better together than apart.”

Emirates Chairman Sheikh Ahmed had also said during Arabian Travel Market in April that he wanted to explore more synergies with Flydubai.

The move could open up slots for Emirates, said Clark and likely delay the move to Dubai World Central, Dubai’s second airport, to “sometime between 2026 to 2030,” he added.