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The dogfight over Emirates
BRENT JANG — TRANSPORTATION REPORTER
From Saturday's Globe and Mail
Published Friday, Oct. 15, 2010 6:07PM EDT
Last updated Friday, Oct. 15, 2010 6:34PM EDT
It’s Dubai versus Frankfurt in the battle of global hubs, and to the victor go the spoils of lucrative international air traffic.
Emirates Airline, which operates three round-trip flights a week between Toronto and Dubai, has been lobbying the Canadian government for much greater access to Canada. Emirates funnels global traffic through its Dubai hub. By contrast, Air Canada (AC.B-T3.440.020.58%) and its partner Deutsche Lufthansa AG fly between Toronto and Frankfurt, where Lufthansa collects connecting passengers.
Battle of the hubs
After Ottawa declined to grant greater access to Dubai-based Emirates and Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways, the United Arab Emirates decided last week to evict the Canadian Forces from Camp Mirage, a Persian Gulf base that serves as a crucial jump-off point to Afghanistan.
Air Canada argues that its connecting points at both Frankfurt and London’s Heathrow Airport would suffer if the UAE carriers grow aggressively in Canada.
As well, with Emirates seeking to add Vancouver-Dubai and Calgary-Dubai routes, Air Canada believes its flights between Western Canada and the Asia-Pacific region would be weakened since Emirates also serves China, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea – important connecting points.
Emirates deploys the 489-seat Airbus A380 on the Toronto-Dubai route while Etihad operates the 374-seat Boeing 777 for its Toronto-Abu Dhabi service.
Emirates serves 15 destinations in the Middle East, 17 in Africa and 17 in the South Asian subcontinent, which are crucial destination markets for the airline’s Toronto-Dubai service. This map shows some of the key destinations where Emirates and Lufthansa go head-to-head from their respective hubs, as well as examples of where Emirates flies without direct Lufthansa competition.
POLITICS
The UAE’s eviction notice means the Canadian Forces must vacate Camp Mirage within the next three weeks. Emirates has been pushing Ottawa for more flights ever since it launched Toronto-Dubai service in October, 2007. Emirates argues that at a minimum, it needs daily service from Toronto. In an internal newsletter last year, the Air Canada Pilots Association noted the presence of small model planes on MPs’ desks – souvenirs from Emirates’ lobbying efforts on Parliament Hill. Air Canada and Transport Canada oppose the expansion strategy, saying there isn’t any seat shortage between Canada and the UAE.
THE WIDE GAP
Emirates alone wants up to 25 more round-trips a week over the long term, leaving a wide gap between the UAE and Ottawa. In August and September, the Canadian government offered to increase the frequency to one extra round-trip flight a week each for Emirates and Etihad, but it had to be service to a Canadian city other than Toronto. Ottawa also presented a separate offer to allow Emirates and Etihad to spread out their flights with smaller planes over more days, but the Canadian government would have restricted the capacity available to the existing level of roughly 2,600 seats each way weekly.
EMIRATES AIRLINE
Emirates and Lufthansa compete head-to-head in most instances in the Middle East and Africa, although Emirates has a more extensive network into India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Emirates has been seeking to introduce daily flights to both Vancouver and Calgary, as well as lobbying to gradually boost its Toronto service to twice a day. “In carrying this connecting traffic, Emirates provides enhanced access between Canada and various regions of the world which are underserved or not served at all from Canada,” according to an Emirates’ report presented to Ottawa.
AIR CANADA/LUFTHANSA
Air Canada and its Star Alliance partner, Germany’s Lufthansa, both fly non-stop between Toronto and Frankfurt. Lufthansa and its European subsidiaries boast an extensive network from the Frankfurt hub, as well as from Munich and other European terminals. Connecting travellers make many of Air Canada’s flights viable, and consumers would find they have fewer Air Canada flights to choose from if Emirates were to obtain dozens of new takeoff and landing slots in Canada. Cities such as Calgary, Montreal and Ottawa stand to lose some non-stop Air Canada service if Emirates siphons international traffic.
Last edited by a330pilotcanada; 19th Oct 2010 at 16:32.
Reason: clarity