Praise jebus,
There is no company tax in Dubai, correct. Yet last financial EK paid almost 35% of operating profit to the Government, it was not the other way around. This was a dividend, how much did QF pay out to its owners?
True. But how much did QF management pay themselves in salaries, bonuses, retentions, KPI incentives etc etc etc, probably as much as what the Arab governemnt took out of EK.......
The other thing to take into account are the 'financial reportables', in other words what is put in print, and the 'financial unreportables' which is the cash/under table method of business which is part and parcel of Middle East/Asian culture particularly. (I stress that I am
not saying at all that EK operate this way, for the record).
In other words, a Western airline may
for example fork out $300 million in government charges/taxes/aviation sundries etc, yet on paper the equivalent airline in Asia may fork out what appears on paper to be $100 million, yet the 'fiancial unreportables' could be an additional $100 million, maybe even $300 million, who knows.
So there are challenges involved in comparing one airline with another when they operate under different playing fields.
The interesting think with Dubai is that they know the oil they have is diminishing, they are very astute when it comes to understanding 'peak oil'. They have been building infrastructure and a tourism base for the past 8 or so years in preparation of the day when oil is not their major source of revenue anymore. However GFC Part 1 has given them a hiding and they don't have a lot of money, if any, left in the kitty.
That is why EK sometiems operates what may appear to be unprofitable routes, it is more of an advertising campaign for their country rather than a route profitabilty exercise.
However up the road a little you have Abu Dhabi on the other hand who still has a massive oil supply left in the ground!
Sunfish could probably add some good input into these business models as I think he has an additional 10 or so years experience in this field than I do.
Back on track and of the oil topic my point is that there are numerous variables in this discussion, but I honestly believe that EK intentions would be more holistic and of a long term plan than anything the fly by night greedy leprechaun does.