Gentlemen,
This thread has drifted all over the place into talks about UAE labour practices, Emirates cost base, Blackberries etc.... We seem to have lost sight of the apparent "reason" given by the Canadian Gov't that further access was denied. That being that the UAE to Canada travel market does not justify additional services.
I know there are a lot of behind the scenes negotiations when it comes to agreeing on traffic rights, but surely this is a bit bizarre? Is every passenger on an AC flight to Frankfurt either a Canadian going to Germany or a German who's final destination was in Canada? Is there not excess capacity on this route in order to feed United, Lufthansa and the rest of the Star Alliance?
When traffic rights were agreed between the UAE and the USA, UK or Australia (just to name a few), did their respective governments look into the traffic in the same way? Being that Emirates business model is to be a global hub capturing East-West traffic, I suspect not or they would not have the frequencies they do. Interesting to note that when EK started flights to New York this was the only Arabian Gulf to USA route. Since then, even as services have been expanded by EK, Etihad and Qatar from this region Delta and United have also started non-stops to Dubai. Exactly how are these airlines hurting the American carriers? Gulf carriers have created an opportunity for them that they may not have otherwise seen and they have decided to add flights (i.e. Jobs) to compete rather than waste time lobbying their government to restrict access. The same can be said for the UK. Even as EK, and EY add capacity there, so to do BA and VS add capacity to the Gulf. None of these governments seem to have been concerned with how many passengers were bound for the UAE during the negotiations and their economies (and airlines) are reaping the benefits. In todays world, it is difficult to put a price on access to good competitive global transportation links.
Can someone please tell me what flight(s) Air Canada will have to cancel in response to Emirates extra services? I assume there will be plenty of cancellations as some have said it would be the end for AC. If we use the same rationale that an airline should only fly "point to point" passengers, then how can one argue that AC will suffer on their European flights? Any passenger with half a brain or an Atlas would not fly YYZ-DXB and then double back to Europe. Did you say those "European" passengers are really in transit to Asia? Then obviously Air Canada has excess capacity on it's transatlantic flights and perhaps the governments involved might like to hold them to the same standard they have applied to EK. You cannot have it both ways. The only argument (given EK's passenger demographic from YYZ) is that EK would have a negative impact on Air Canada's YYZ to Middle East or Asia routes of which there are....wait for it........NONE!!!!!!!!!!! Therefore, you have no argument (okay, there is one, but I don't think EK will ever have a presence in Tel Aviv).
Emirates is definitely the target due to it's strong brand presence. I see EgyptAir will start flights to Toronto soon and Turkish have recently ramped up their YYZ services. Both these airlines have similar route structure and geographical position as EK. Turkish have even adopted the Emirates business model of creating a global hub. Is the government studying the traffic between these countries as well? I suspect not, as AC probably didn't employ their lobbyists as (a) neither carrier has the same perception from the traveling public as EK and (b) they are both Star Alliance members.
There are many people out there who believe Air Canada is rubbish and would only fly them if there was no other choice. This belief seems to have filtered it's way to the top of the organization and the government as both seem to believe the only way they can survive is to keep out the competition. If they don't wake up and change the product they offer and the way it is delivered they will be threatened by an increasing number of airlines. Even low cost West Jet and small start up Porter are attracting lawsuits from them. How does this affect the public's perception of them? Do they not have a
PR department?
Business 101: It's better to have a slice of an enormous pie then all of a tiny one. Take note AC.