Emirates and Greece
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Emirates and Greece Emirates has been serving Greece for over 20 years since the launch years of flights to Athens from Dubai in June 1996 and is currently the only since Dubai-Athens 20 launched in 1996 carrier serving daily non-stop flights between Greece and Dubai. Since 1996, almost 3 million passengers have travelled to and from Athens million on Emirates. passengers on Emirates’ 3 flights to and from Athens since 1996 In March 2017, Emirates extended its in enabling tourism, international Dubai-Athens flights to Newark in the business relationships, Foreign Direct thousand United States and from May 2017, Investment (FDI) and international tonnes of cargo on Emirates’ Emirates will double its capacity on the trade. In Europe, connectivity is mainly 60 flights to and from Athens Dubai-Athens route by introducing a provided by a few large hub airports since 1996 second daily frequency. such as Frankfurt and Paris, as a result of which intercontinental connections million Impact on employment and from other cities in Europe often require direct, indirect and induced an additional stopover. This creates a € 79 GDP impact* GDP in Greece connectivity gap. Emirates helps bridge A 2015 study by Frontier Economics that gap by serving more non-hub jobs found that Emirates’ daily flights to centres through its global network. direct, indirect and induced, Athens had a GDP impact of €79 million 1,650 supported through Emirates’ and supported more than 1,650 direct, operations* In fact, Emirates is the only carrier indirect and induced jobs in Greece. offering daily flights between Athens million This number not only takes into account and Dubai. Hence without Emirates’ € bilateral trade between Emirates’ staff in Greece, but also the flights to Athens, passengers bound for 281 Greece and the UAE in 2016 employment across the supply chain Dubai would need to use at least a one- such as ground-handling or catering stop connection. According to Frontier Greek nationals jobs as well as induced employment Economics, this unique connectivity employed by the through the economic activity generated created a catalytic GDP impact of 522 Emirates Group by these direct and indirect employees. €4 million for the Greek economy Greek nationals in 2013-14. Furthermore, Emirates’ living in the UAE Emirates’ unique unique connections had an annual 1,500 connectivity catalytic impact of €4 million on FDI and *Frontier Economics (2015): Emirates’ Economic Impact in Europe Connectivity plays an important role supported €7 million in trade. Emirates contributes to Greece’s connectivity needs in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australasia Newark Beijing Yinchuan Athens Seoul Tokyo Kabul Peshawar Islamabad Zhengzhou Osaka Sialkot Multan Lahore Shanghai Delhi Dubai Karachi Dhaka Taipei Ahmedabad Guangzhou Middle East Network Kolkata Hong Kong Mumbai Hanoi Hyderabad Yangon Mashhad Dakar Khartoum Clark Erbil Tehran Ouagadougou Bengaluru Chennai Bangkok Manila Djibouti Beirut Baghdad Conakry Kochi Phnom Penh Ho Chi Minh City Cebu Addis Ababa Lagos Thiruvananthapuram Colombo Phuket Amman Abidjan Basra Accra Maldives Kuala Lumpur Kuwait Eldoret Singapore Entebbe Nairobi Dammam Bahrain Dubai Dar es Salaam Medina Riyadh Doha Seychelles Jakarta Muscat Luanda Jeddah Bali Lilongwe Lusaka Harare Mauritius Johannesburg Brisbane Passenger Routes Durban Freighter Routes Perth Passenger & Freighter Routes Cape Town Adelaide Sydney Auckland Upcoming Route Melbourne Christchurch Emirates’ Dubai-Athens- The importance of tourism Newark route for Greece “Within the framework of our excellent cooperation, and in line Emirates launched Newark via Athens in Greece received almost 23.6 million visitors with our common goal for the March 2017, its second ‘fifth freedom’ route and nearly €13.7 billion in tourism receipts in growth of tourism between our two after Dubai-Milan-New York, in response to 2015, averaging €621 per visitor. According countries as well as the expansion requests from the Greek Government and to the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE), foreign visitor arrivals to Greece is expected to long-haul markets, I would like to Athens International Airport to help meet to be around 30 million in 2017, an additional thank Emirates for having positively a strong consumer need that was long 2.5 million over 2016. One of the key considered our request to launch a neglected by other airlines, considering the growth segments identified was American new Emirates itinerary connecting US is home to the largest Greek diaspora of tourists, which saw double-digit growth in Dubai with New York via Athens all around 1.3 million. the 2015-16 season, along with the need year round. This strategic choice to establish Greece as a year-round tourist substantially supports our efforts at Emirates’ Dubai-Athens-Newark flight offers destination and improve direct connectivity. the Ministry of Tourism to enhance the only year-round non-stop daily service Emirates supports all of these objectives by the already increasing flow of between Greece and the US – a market connecting the US and Greece with non-stop visitors to Greece from the United which had been connected by at least a daily flights throughout the year. States and the UAE on a yearly daily service for 70 years till 2012. Such fifth basis, travelling either for leisure or freedom flights extending from Europe to Open Skies for a stronger Europe business purposes.” the US are not unusual and several carriers International aviation competition is currently exercise the same traffic rights, particularly high on the European Union (EU) agenda. - Elena Kountoura, via Europe to New York. In fact, Emirates’ Opening markets with main trading partners Greek Minister for Tourism share of the total capacity between Europe is an urgent necessity if the EU is to bridge and the US is less than one percent. its connectivity gap with the rest of the world. Liberalised aviation markets create About Emirates Greece-UAE trade relations new routes for people to travel, work and goods to be exchanged. It is not surprising Emirates is the largest airline in the world in Greece and the UAE have shared a sound that key representative bodies, including terms of international passenger and freight political, economic and cultural relationship Airports Council International (ACI Europe) carriage. Established in 1985, the company’s for many years which has potential for further with 17 Greek airports among its members growth has been measured in line with the development in the future. Bilateral trade and the European Travel Commission which demand for air travel. With 256 efficient between Greece and the UAE reached €281 is supported by the Greek National Tourist aircraft in service today, Emirates operates million in 2016, having grown by 615 percent Organisation, recently called on policy- a global network of over 150 destinations from €39 million in 1996 when Emirates first makers to prioritise free aviation market in 83 countries across six continents, commenced flights to Athens. Over these access, including with Gulf countries. Some independently of the three global airline 20 years, Emirates has transported 60,000 European legacy carriers in France and alliances. Emirates launched passenger tonnes of cargo into and out of Athens, Germany disagree with this. But why should services to seven new destinations in 2016 – thereby facilitating the trade of goods valuable direct international air links, which Cebu and Clark in the Philippines, Yinchuan between Greece and the UAE, as well as are so important for business and tourism, and Zhengzhou in Mainland China, Yangon other countries across its global network. be limited to a few European airlines and in Myanmar, Hanoi in Vietnam, and Fort With the increase in capacity from May 2017, a few European hubs with higher ticket Lauderdale, USA. In 2017, Emirates will Emirates will stimulate further development in prices, longer travel times and passenger commence services to Zagreb in Croatia and Greek business and tourism. inconvenience as consequences? Phnom Penh in Cambodia. Myth vs. Fact: Setting the record straight Myth: Emirates receives free fuel and does not pay to use infrastructure in Dubai. Some of our competitors claim that Emirates competes unfairly or Fact: In the 2015-16 financial year, Emirates’ fuel costs totalled negatively impacts the aviation market. US$5.4 billion and comprised 26% of operating costs, wholly Such misconceptions, when repeated comparable with other large long-haul carriers. Shell, one of often enough, can ultimately be Emirates’ main fuel suppliers in Dubai and abroad, recently accepted as fact. Below we aim to confirmed that it does not give Emirates preferential treatment. address some of these allegations Emirates also pays the full published landing charges at Dubai levelled against Emirates. International Airport – as do the 100 other airlines that fly to and from this airport. Similarly, Emirates pays the same airport handling Myth: Emirates is heavily subsidised by the Dubai Government. fees to the ground-handling agent as would a similar high volume airline customer. Fact: Emirates is a consumer-focused, commercial airline, operating a financially transparent and non-subsidised business Myth: The social conditions in which some of Emirates’ employees model. Our funds are raised on a fully commercial basis through work are unacceptable. a wide range of sources including operating leases, commercial asset-backed debt and equity from investors. Our financial