Gulf-US Takes Centre Stage
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Dubai2006 BRINGING YOU THE NEWS FROM ROUTES DUBAI NETWORKING FORUM – DAY ONE: SUNDAY 17 SEPTEMBER Gulf-US takes centre stage THE BATTLE FOR MARKET countries. Kuwait Airways has share in the fledgling Gulf-US operated services to the USA market is heating up, with major since 1978 under a mutual gov- carriers on both sides adding ernment accord and currently capacity and revealing new flies three-times weekly between routes. Kuwait and New York JFK with Some carriers including Etihad 777-200s. and United Airlines have already United will be the first US car- firmed up plans for new non- rier to fly into the Gulf since stop services linking the Middle 2001 when TWA dropped its East and USA. Several others New York-Cairo-Riyadh service. have broad plans to launch serv- Continental Airlines and Delta ices in the market but are still Air Lines, both of which now pondering their options and will serve Israel, are pondering take advantage of contacts with launching new services to the airports made at Routes before Gulf from their Newark and New selecting their city pairs. York JFK hubs. Continental and Capacity on routes between Delta will be at Routes along the Gulf states and the USA is Sheikh Rashid terminal at Dubai’s with American Airlines and US being added at a tremendous international airport is a focal point for Airways. pace, with the number of week- visitors to Routes but the airport could be Emirates is driving most of the ly frequencies roughly doubling one of many in the region to benefit from traffic growth in the Middle East- over the last two years to 30, route development between the Gulf states US market. It began flights to according to Innovata. This fig- and the USA New York JFK two years ago and ure will rise again after Abu upped the frequency to double- Dhabi-based Etihad launches a Etihad’s second North American week using Boeing 777s. The daily in November last year. The daily Abu Dhabi-New York JFK destination after Toronto. signing at the end of August of carrier plans to add a third daily service on 26 October with United Airlines also plans to an open skies accord between New York connection, via Airbus A340-500s. It will be the launch at the end of October a Kuwait and the USA should lead Hamburg in Germany from 29 first non-stop service between non-stop Kuwait-Washington to more expansion of commer- October. Emirates has even more Abu Dhabi and New York, Dulles service three times per cial services between the two ambitions for the USA and is mulling destinations on the West Coast and in the Mid-West. ✈ TALKING SHOP - EVENTS AROUND ROUTES TODAY Emirates is already the largest carrier in the Gulf-US market, Routes opens today with chairman followed by Royal Jordanian Mike Howarth, anticipating a record 0715 - 1500 The 5th Annual Routes Golf Tournament at Arabian with 10 weekly A340 flights to 25,000 one-to-one meetings between Ranches Golf Club three US destinations – Chicago, airlines and airports. 0900 - 1600 Orientation Tour of Dubai City New York and Detroit. Saudi “With high level delegations from 1130 - 1300 African Networking Lunch at the Novotel Arabian is the third largest with the likes of the USA, India, Russia, 1330 Registration Desk and Diary Advice & Extra Meetings Desk weekly Boeing 747-400 flights Malaysia, Scandinavia and Australia, Open and Hosted Networking Stands Open – Open House on a Washington-New York- Routes in Dubai is a truly global in the Networking Village Jeddah-Riyadh routing. Kuwait event,” he says. The 300-plus airlines 1400 - 1500 Industry Briefing: Airport Infrastructure presentation by Airways is the fourth and last and 600-plus airports, industry Richard Tollis, Partner, Ernst & Young in Dubai Rooms C & Gulf carrier currently in the mar- organisations and manufacturers rep- D, Level 1 ket. resented are further bolstered by the 1500 - 1530 Industry Briefing: Olivier Onidi, Head of International Air Qatar Airways is another co-located ICAO Liberalisation Transport Agreements, Directorate General for Energy & Middle Eastern carrier eyeing the Conference at the Dubai Transport, European Commission in Dubai Rooms E & F, other side of the Atlantic, having International Conference and Level 1 just taken delivery of the first of Exhibition Centre, at which a high 1600 - 1700 Industry Briefing: Aircraft Manufacturer presentation by 10 A340-600s. number of officials from the world’s Airbus (pre-booking necessary) in Dubai Rooms C & D, Qatar, Etihad and Emirates civil aviation authorities will attend. Level 1 will all attend Routes and use the Today’s programme includes a 1730 - 1930 Welcome Reception hosted by Dubai Department of Civil event to forge new contacts with number of events: Aviation in the Networking Village North American airports. ■ INSIDE TRACK Life returns to Beirut airport CARRIERS ARE GRADUALLY RESUMING services to the Lebanese capital Beirut after the introduction of a ceasefire that halted hostilities between neighbouring Israel and Lebanese resistance fighters Hezbollah and the lifting of a military blockade. Home carrier Middle East Airlines (MEA) DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW DAVID has been gradually reintroducing services from Beirut and the carrier says its entire fleet has now been repatriated to Beirut from the Syrian capital Damascus, where MEA opera- tions were based during the conflict. British Airways franchise partner BMed and Qatar Airways have both restarted commer- cial flights to Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport following approval from the Lebanese authorities. Etihad Airways has resumed its four-times Emirates will initially operate three-times French flag carrier is also taking over services weekly Abu Dhabi-Beirut service, alongside weekly from Dubai while Gulf Air’s service will previously operated by merger partner KLM. the daily service by low-cost carrier Air Arabia be daily. The airport was severely damaged during from Sharjah. Air France has resumed service at four-times fighting, with runways and taxiways sustain- German flag-carrier Lufthansa has restarted weekly flights at first, three less than before the ing bomb damage that forced airlines to with- its five-times weekly services from Frankfurt, start of the hostilities. "Demand will determine draw. The terminal buildings, however, were and Gulf Air, Kuwait Airways and Emirates whether we go back to those levels. But the largely undamaged and it is business as usual have also returned to the Lebanese capital. first flight was nearly full," says Air France. The for the airport’s shops. ✈ KLM DROPS inshort MAS and Gulf Air to codeshare MIDDLE EAST TRIO Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and Gulf Air have agreed to codeshare on flights between Kuala Lumpur and the Middle East. Under the terms of the agreement MAS will add its code to Gulf Air-operated flights KLM will cease serving Amman in Jordan and to the Malaysian capital from Bahrain and Muscat. MAS is seeking new codeshare agreements with Damascus in Syria on 29 October and has also foreign carriers as it is scaling back international operations as part of a restructuring plan. announced that it does not intend to resume services to Beirut in Lebanon, adding that the BMed expands network route was “already loss-making” before the British Airways franchise partner BMed plans to extend its network to West Africa at the end of conflict. October with a thrice weekly service from London Heathrow to Freetown in Sierra Leone and Dakar in It will instead rely on a codeshare with Air Senegal. It will be the only airline operating direct links from the UK to the two African countries, not France. served by BA since the early 1990s. Following their merger last year, the two carriers cut several services, leaving cities such China Postal goes international as Doha, Jakarta and Manila with service from Chinese freight carrier China Postal Airlines has launched its first international services with flights only one carrier. They say they are now going between Beijing and the South Korean capital Seoul. Flights are being operated three times a week through the final phase of their joint restruc- with Boeing 737 freighters and the carrier says it plans to expand its fledgling international network turing. with services to Japan. China Postal is a joint venture between China Post and China Southern Airlines. PUBLISHED BY AIRLINE BUSINESS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH TRIDENT COMMUNICATIONS Daily editorial team Andrea Crisp Distribution The Daily News team can be Editorial head office Mark Pilling George Lowrie contacted at Room B, outside Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Alan Peaford Editorial Assistant the Sheikh Maktoum Hall at Sutton, Surrey, SM2 5AS, UK Jackie Thompson Andy Costerton Advertisement sales the Routes event. Telephone: Tel: +44 208 652 4996 Mike Martin Robert Hancock (+9714) 331-1408 email: Fax: +44 208 652 8914 Layout & production Shawn Buck [email protected] e-mail: airline.business@flight- Contributors Andy Forrester global.com Brendan Sobie Printed by © Airline Business 2005 David Field Photographer Atlas Printing Press LLC Visit us on the web Mike Miller Ian Billinghurst Dubai www.airlinebusiness.com Fabrice Tacoun AIRLINE BUSINESS @ ROUTES 17 September 2006 3 INSIDE TRACK Jet plots next European push India’s Jet Airways, which only when our 777s and A330s are also flies daily from Heathrow Jet now offers 22% of the began operating international delivered”, says Menu. The car- to Delhi. The three times week- available seats on the London- flights in May 2005, is here at rier has 10 Airbus A330s and ly Amritsar service will rise to Mumbai market and 16% on Routes and says it is in the final 10 Boeing 777-300ERs on six weekly in January as Jet the London-Delhi market.