CAIRO (Reuters), Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Chairman of Emirates Airlines said Monday that it is possible for the carrier to be listed on Dubai’s exchange.

This decision will have to be taken by Dubai Securities and Exchange Higher Committee, headed by Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum. He is the Deputy Ruler.

Dubai’s government announced earlier in the month that 10 companies linked to state will be listed as part of its goal to increase stock market activity.

Emirates didn’t immediately reply to our request for comment.

Dubai’s listing plans aim to make it more competitive than the larger bourses of Saudi Arabia or Abu Dhabi, which attract stronger liquidity and are attracted by bigger listings.

Over the past decade, speculation has been ongoing about Emirates’ potential listing.

Emirates was planning to become public, al-Maktoum said in 2007 Tim Clark, President of Emirates at the time, stated that an IPO should be valued between $20 billion to $30 billion.

Emirates was able to receive an additional 2.5 billion dirhams (681 million dollars) from the state in the second half of this year. The announcement came as the airline revealed that first-half loss had been halved.

According to the airline’s April-September report, it lost 5.8 billion dirhams ($1.6 billion), compared with a 12.6-billion-dirham loss for that same period last year.

($1 = 3.6726 UAE dirham)