"We are looking at slowing some – maybe next year and 2011 –but much will depend on what happens in the next few months," Tim Clark told Reuters TV on the sidelines of the International Air Transport Association annual meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
"This is probably the worst economic situation I've experienced in my aviation career," he said. "Every day is a fire-fight."
Gulf-based carriers have been rapidly expanding, but global airlines have been hit by a combination of falling passenger and cargo demand, volatile oil prices, problems in getting financing and recently, worries over the H1N1 swine flu outbreak.
Emirates, which has a $55 billion (Dh202 billion) order book for planes from Boeing and Airbus, expects to receive about 10 planes a year.
Asked if this may be reduced to five next year, Clark said possibly but he did not think the airline would slow orders for more than one year.
"If we did it we would slow for one year but then pick up very quickly again after that."
Clark said the airline was carrying more passengers than ever before in terms of volume, but they were paying 30 per cent less. He saw no signs of a recovery in business travel but was not planning to change more routes after dropping a flight to New York earlier this year.
Clark said the airline had funding in place for 22 planes ordered until mid-2010. He said Emirates did not expect to receive any government funding.
"We have always been an arms-length operation."
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