LE BOURGET, France: An all-out price war among airlines desperate to win back passengers is "lunacy" but it's happening now, the head of Dubai-based carrier Emirates Airlines said yesterday.

While Gulf carriers are being accused in some quarters of being behind the price war, Emirates' President Tim Clark said that wasn't so.

"(A) major Asian carrier has introduced fares from the West Coast of America to India that I'm surprised would cover the cost of catering," Clark said, declining to name the airline. "You have to look further afield to see the lunacy in the markets at the moment. Some people are just going too far."