Business Travel News EuropeBusiness Travel News Europe
Business Travel News Europe
  • NEWSOpen Menu
    • Accommodation
    • Air Travel
    • Ground Transport
    • Management
    • Meetings
    • On the Move
    • Payment & Expense
    • Sustainability
    • Technology
    • TMC & Distribution
    • Travel Procurement
    • Recent Issues
  • FEATURESOpen Menu
    • View All Features
  • CONVERSATIONSOpen Menu
    • Interviews and Q&As
    • Guest columns
    • Podcasts
    • VIEW ALL CONVERSATIONS
  • RESOURCESOpen Menu
    • NEW! People & the Planet
    • The BTN Academy
    • Spotlight Series: Ground transport
    • The Traveller Experience Index
    • Spotlight Series: Air travel
    • Connected Content: The distribution report
    • Spotlight Series: Travel management companies
    • BTN Europe's 2023 Hotlist
    • Powered Up: The travel tech of today & tomorrow
    • The Future of Meetings
    • Smart Money: Cards, payments & expenses
    • The Journey Towards Sustainable Business Travel
    • Safety Measures: Risk, duty of care & wellbeing
    • Stepping It Up: Small & midsized travel programmes
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in business travel
    • Business Travel Rebooted
    • New Horizons: The 2022 sourcing guide
    • Wheels in Motion
  • EVENTSOpen Menu
    • Webinars
    • Business Travel Show Europe
    • Business Travel Show Europe Kick Off
    • Business Travel Awards Europe
    • Business Travel Intelligence Summit Europe
    • Business Travel Accommodation Summit
    • Business Travel Tech Talk
    • Entertainment Travel Summit
    • Global Travel Risk Summit
    • Strategic Meetings Summit
    • Sustainable Business Travel Summit Europe
    • VIEW ALL EVENTS
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • NEWSOpen Menu
    • Accommodation
    • Air Travel
    • Ground Transport
    • Management
    • Meetings
    • On the Move
    • Payment & Expense
    • Sustainability
    • Technology
    • TMC & Distribution
    • Travel Procurement
    • Recent Issues
  • FEATURESOpen Menu
    • View All Features
  • CONVERSATIONSOpen Menu
    • Interviews and Q&As
    • Guest columns
    • Podcasts
    • VIEW ALL CONVERSATIONS
  • RESOURCESOpen Menu
    • NEW! People & the Planet
    • The BTN Academy
    • Spotlight Series: Ground transport
    • The Traveller Experience Index
    • Spotlight Series: Air travel
    • Connected Content: The distribution report
    • Spotlight Series: Travel management companies
    • BTN Europe's 2023 Hotlist
    • Powered Up: The travel tech of today & tomorrow
    • The Future of Meetings
    • Smart Money: Cards, payments & expenses
    • The Journey Towards Sustainable Business Travel
    • Safety Measures: Risk, duty of care & wellbeing
    • Stepping It Up: Small & midsized travel programmes
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in business travel
    • Business Travel Rebooted
    • New Horizons: The 2022 sourcing guide
    • Wheels in Motion
  • EVENTSOpen Menu
    • Webinars
    • Business Travel Show Europe
    • Business Travel Show Europe Kick Off
    • Business Travel Awards Europe
    • Business Travel Intelligence Summit Europe
    • Business Travel Accommodation Summit
    • Business Travel Tech Talk
    • Entertainment Travel Summit
    • Global Travel Risk Summit
    • Strategic Meetings Summit
    • Sustainable Business Travel Summit Europe
    • VIEW ALL EVENTS
  • SUBSCRIBE
Business Travel News Europe
  • Business Travel News Europe on Twitter
  • BTN Europe on LinkedIn
  • BTN Europe on Facebook
  • NEWS
    • Accommodation
    • Air Travel
    • Ground Transport
    • Management
    • Meetings
    • On the Move
    • Payment & Expense
    • Sustainability
    • Technology
    • TMC & Distribution
    • Travel Procurement
    • Recent Issues
    SubscribeBTN Europe NewsletterBTN Europe Magazine
  • FEATURES
    • View All Features
    Airport passengers 2023Frequent-flyer levy: a good or bad idea for business travel?
    Transient and meetings hotel spendAll together now: Integrating travel and meetings spend in hotel negotiations
    Hotel reception business travellerHotel RFPs: The negotiating outlook for 2024 rates

  • CONVERSATIONS
    • Interviews and Q&As
    • Guest columns
    • Podcasts
    • VIEW ALL CONVERSATIONS
    Decoding the ROI of corporate travelDecoding the ROI of corporate travel
    How AI will unleash the value of travel risk intelligenceHow AI will unleash the value of travel risk intelligence
    Interview: Stefan Cars, founder and chief executive, SnowfallInterview: Stefan Cars, founder and chief executive, Snowfall
  • RESOURCES
    • NEW! People & the Planet
    • The BTN Academy
    • Spotlight Series: Ground transport
    • The Traveller Experience Index
    • Spotlight Series: Air travel
    • Connected Content: The distribution report
    • Spotlight Series: Travel management companies
    • BTN Europe's 2023 Hotlist
    • Powered Up: The travel tech of today & tomorrow
    • The Future of Meetings
    • Smart Money: Cards, payments & expenses
    • The Journey Towards Sustainable Business Travel
    • Safety Measures: Risk, duty of care & wellbeing
    • Stepping It Up: Small & midsized travel programmes
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in business travel
    • Business Travel Rebooted
    • New Horizons: The 2022 sourcing guide
    • Wheels in Motion
    Tools & ResourcesEurope's Leading TMCs 2023Booking tools – the essential guideTraveller Experience IndexTravel entry requirementsCorporate Travel Index EuropeBTN Europe podcastsBTSE Kick Off - CEO InterviewsRecent issues of BTN Europe
  • EVENTS
    • Webinars
    • Business Travel Show Europe
    • Business Travel Show Europe Kick Off
    • Business Travel Awards Europe
    • Business Travel Intelligence Summit Europe
    • Business Travel Accommodation Summit
    • Business Travel Tech Talk
    • Entertainment Travel Summit
    • Global Travel Risk Summit
    • Strategic Meetings Summit
    • Sustainable Business Travel Summit Europe
    • VIEW ALL EVENTS
    12th Annual Business Travel Tech Talk London

    16 October, etc.venues Monument

    Business Travel Awards Europe

    30 October, JW Marriott Grosvenor House

    4th Annual Business Travel Accommodations Summit Europe

    1st November 2023, etc.venues County Hall

  • SUBSCRIBE

Global

With U.A.E. & Qatar Open Skies Resolved, What Next?

By Michael B. Baker / 24 May 2018 / Contact Reporter
Share

After the U.S. and United Arab Emirates earlier this month reached an accord on a years-long Open Skies dispute, both sides were quick to claim victory. Partnership for Open & Fair Skies–the coalition that includes the three legacy U.S. carriers, plus airline employee organizations–called it "a win for American jobs" via campaign manager Scott Reed. U.S. Airlines for Open Skies, which disagreed that Middle Eastern carriers had violated the agreements, called it a "thoughtful approach" that "will allow all sectors of commercial aviation to grow stronger than ever." U.S. Airlines for Open Skies includes JetBlue and Hawaiian Airlines.

The resolution was similar to one the U.S. reached with Qatar this year: Both Emirates and Etihad agreed to provide more transparency in financial reporting and confirmed they have no plans to add additional fifth-freedom flights to the U.S. In Etihad and Emirates' case, that means flights between the U.S. and a country other than the U.A.E. So, what does that mean for the industry?

"Not as much change as people might think," said ICF VP and aviation group leader Samuel Engel. "Mostly, the economics of those airlines have done more to resolve the situation than any trade negotiations or diplomatic negotiations."

Well in advance of the resolution, the Middle Eastern carriers already had slowed growth to the U.S., and they likely had no interest in adding further fifth-freedom service to the U.S. regardless. Further, the agreement is an understanding that such service will not be added, but it stops short of officially freezing such service, according to reports, meaning Middle Eastern carriers technically still could add them if they so desire.

For Emirates, it otherwise has been business as usual, Engel said, with annual growth slowing but still continuing. Etihad has been undergoing a more significant shift. From its peak activity in 2016, it has cut back on capacity by about 4 percent, but that has included dropping 26 markets. Etihad mostly was branching out to new markets, while Emirates was adding markets while also adding capacity to existing markets, he said. "If you do that too much, you run the risk that what you're really doing is planting flags on the map for branding purposes rather than economics," Engel said. "It suggests they're taking a hard look at genuine rationalization."

Etihad also has pulled back on its strategy of building a network through investments in airlines around the world, particularly after one such investment, Airberlin, went belly up last year and while another, Alitalia, is trying to emerge from bankruptcy protection.

Qatar Airways, meanwhile, sustained a substantial financial loss last year in the face of an ongoing diplomatic dispute in which it had to end service to U.A.E., Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt. That has cut its ability to depend on the flow of labor to those countries as business, which "is the backbone of all of these airlines," Engel said.

Ultimately, the bigger impact could be less on the Middle Eastern carriers and more about what the U.S. carriers now feel empowered to do. In a CNBC interview after the decision, CEO Ed Bastian, for example, said Delta now might go into markets "where we have been run out," such as the Middle East, India and parts of Southeast Asia; on May 24, Delta made good on that prediction by announcing it will return to India for the first time in about a decade. 


Updated May 24, 4:55 p.m. Eastern: BTN updated this story to reflect Delta's announcement that it would return to India.

More Global
Related
South African Airways Enters Bankruptcy Protection

South African Airways' board has voted to put the carrier into a "business rescue" bankruptcy protection program to save it from collapse. ...

VAT Law Change Could Trigger Business Travel Cost Hikes in Germany

Corporates could lose their ability to reclaim value-added tax on hotel and other bookings in Germany after the country's parliament last week approved...

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Updates Visa Waiver Program Portal

U.S. Customs and Border Protection last week introduced two features to the Electronic System for Travel Authorization, the online portal through which...

SPONSORED CONTENT

How frictionless mobility leads to better business travel
How frictionless mobility leads to better business travelBy Enterprise National

The reality of day-to-day business travel is millions of short business trips criss-crossing Europe,... KEEP READING

The workplace has changed. Does your travel & expense match up?
The workplace has changed. Does your travel & expense match up?By Cytric by Amadeus

Does your travel & expense match up?... KEEP READING

The eight trends shaping ground transportation
The eight trends shaping ground transportationBy Enterprise National

Eight emerging ground transportation priorities shaping business travel in 2022 and beyond... KEEP READING

More Global

South African Airways Enters Bankruptcy Protection
VAT Law Change Could Trigger Business Travel Cost Hikes in Germany
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Updates Visa Waiver Program Portal
Yapta Continues Growth Spurt with Japanese TMC Deal

VIEW ALL
  • Most Read
  • Most Shared
  1. EU’s ETIAS travel system set for further delay
  2. Amadeus and Microsoft to pilot AI-generated travel assistant
  3. Navan adds NDC content from four European flag carriers
  4. London Gatwick cancels flights due to ATC staff sickness
  5. Sustainable travel costs hindering adoption, says BCD report
  1. Microsoft and World Energy agree 10-year SAF contract
  2. ArrangeMY acquires venue-finding specialist
  3. Premier Inn owner acquires London office building
  4. London Heathrow trials pre-booked security slots
  5. Emirates agrees ‘milestone’ SAF deal with Shell
Business Travel News EuropeBusiness Travel News Europe
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • EDITORIAL CALENDAR
  • Business Travel Show Europe
  • Business Travel News Europe on Twitter
  • BTN Europe on LinkedIn
  • BTN Europe on Facebook
BUSINESS TRAVEL NEWS EUROPE
NORTHSTAR TRAVEL GROUP
Business Travel News
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • Editorial calendar
  • Editorial guidelines
  • Subscribe to BTN Europe
  • Subscribe to BTN U.S.
  • Subscribe to Travel Procurement
  • Privacy policy
  • Terms & conditions
Northstar Travel Group
  • Corporate travel
  • Business Travel Show
  • Business Travel Awards
  • BTN U.S.
  • The Beat
  • Travel Procurement

  • Travel Technology
  • Travel Tech Show
  • Phocuswire
  • Phocuswright
  • Intelliguide
  • Meetings & incentives
  • M&IT
  • AMI
  • ConventionSource
  • M&IT Awards

  • Retail travel
  • Travel Weekly
  • Travel Pulse

  • Northstar Travel Group
  • View all Northstar brands
BTNGroup
Business Travel News EuropeBusiness Travel NewsTravel ProcurementThe BeatBusiness Travel Show Europe
Northstar Travel Group
Copyright ©2022, Northstar Travel Media Ltd, The Epworth, 25 City Road, London EC1Y 1AA, UK
RRManagement rrtestprocurement