We had almost forgotten it, but American airlines, which are generally champions of liberalism when it comes to their own interests, are generally less so when it comes to their foreign counterparts. Barely elected, President Donald Trump is facing up to the grievances of US carriers. In the sights of American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United: the state immunity enjoyed by the Gulf companies, and the complacency of the US administration in recent years.
It's an old debate that regularly agitates American and European companies alike. Is there a unfair competition companies in the Gulf, accused of taking advantage of low prices on the paraffin as well as grants hidden? The debate was fierce in 2014, but finally died down. The Obama administration had left market forces to work, judging that the presence of Gulf carriers was a good deal for the American consumer.
The announcement by Emirates The launch of a daily flight in March on the Athens-New York route in competition with Delta and United was the pretext for a letter from the CEOs of American, Delta and United to the new American President. The aim is to prevent the "unbridled" growth of Gulf carriers by means of a new campaign.Partnership for Open & Fair Skies " (" Partnership for Open and Just Skies ").
Back in November 2016, this lobby declared "wish to inform President-elect Donald Trump and his administration about the massive and unfair subsidies that the United Emirates and Qatar give to their own companies". The three chairmen mentioned the sum of 50 billion in subsidies from 2004 to 2016.
The campaign therefore echoes perfectly the slogan of the new Trump administration " America First: America for Americans " (" America First: an America for Americans ").
Nearly thirty airlines between the Gulf and the United States
It's true that in just a few years, Obama's United States has opened up to the Gulf airlines. Emirates and Qatar Airways now each fly to the United States. 11 American citiesQatar, for example, has just announced the launch of four weekly flights to Las Vegas from 2018. Etihad has a network of six cities in the United States and has just added four weekly flights to its three weekly services on the Abu Dhabi-Dallas route. From 1.89 million passengers in 2010, the traffic of the three Gulf giants has surged to reach 5.43 million in 2015 and probably more than six million last year.
This is an achievement, given that only two air routes are served by both US and Gulf carriers, out of a total of almost thirty US/Gulf routes. According to a study by Oxford Economics, only 0.7% of passengers would have the choice between a US airline and a Gulf carrier on the same route. However, it is likely that the three major Gulf carriers will freeze their air capacity in retaliation.
La European Commission is also working on the headache posed by companies from the Gulf, which are increasingly perceived as threats. According to information provided to Reuters, the latter would like to tighten the law allowing the authorities to impose surcharges or suspend the traffic rights of non-European airlines that have caused harm to European carriers.
Companies benefiting from illegal subsidies or more favourable treatment at certain airports would be considered guilty of distortion of competition. The fight is led in particular by France and Germany. A paradox for the latter, given that Lufthansa has just signed an extensive cooperation agreement with its Abu Dhabi counterpart, Etihad...
Norwegian Air also in the US crosshairsAnother airline targeted by the Trump administration is Norwegian Air International. The carrier long-haul low-cost has been expanding its services to the United States since 2013, not only from Scandinavia but also from all over Europe. Norwegian offers flights from London Gatwick but also Paris since 2016. The carrier will also be adding a Barcelona-Fort Lauderdale route in March and a flight between Edinburgh and New York later in the year. In 2018, Norwegian also plans to launch flights to the United States from Düsseldorf. Last year, the company offered 35 flights to eight American cities. It is causing controversy over its Dublin-based subsidiary, against which the American unions are strongly opposed. They argue that the airline could undermine US carrier traffic with its low taxes and a workforce based in low-cost countries. After granting provisional flight authorisation in April, the US Civil Aviation Authority has yet to make a final decision. By the end of 2018, the airline will have a fleet of 32 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and 16 Boeing 737-MAXs. The latter will be capable of operating flights between New York and London or New York and Oslo, enabling long-haul services between secondary cities. Between 2013 and 2016, the number of passengers travelling to the United States on Norwegian increased from 104,500 to almost 1.6 million passengers last year. And the target of two million passengers could be reached by the end of 2017. |
