Originally Posted by
ib26uk
With Emirates, Turkish, Qatar, and Saudi at BHX, Will Etihad come and join the party too?............
I suspect not. During their financial crisis having unwisely invested in a range of poor investments (....Air Berlin, Alitalia, Jet Airways) plus plus trying to compete against QR and EK, the airline realised it couldn't work and compete.
Etihad only fly direct to 22 European destinations, even less which are year round. London (LHR) and Manchester (MAN) are the only 2 UK routes flown. Spain is the only country in Europe with 3 routes with year round routes to Madrid (MAD) and Barcelona (BCN) and a season summer route to Malaga (AGP). In the event they were looking for a 3rd UK route, returning to Edinburgh (EDI) would be obvious choice with Gatwick (LGW) also looking attractive to get more London capacity. BHX would be way down the list in my eye.
Etihad have now refocused and re-branded itself along the lines of a boutique airline similar to the likes of Gulf and Oman Airways and i think that is the right decision for them. Out of BHX, Etihad doesn't have the capacity or route network to comepete with EK, QR and TK and doesn't have the cost base and government support the lines of SV have in capturing market share.