Serve the
Passengers Best to Make Them Fly With You: Shaikh Ahmad
Three largest carriers of America have asked the US government to revise
the agreement of open skies with Gulf States
Tim
Clark, the President of Emirates Airline, discrediting claims by largest
carriers of America that the main Gulf airlines advantage from billions in state
subsidies, communicated on Wednesday, the Government of US shouldn’t be
convinced by a non representative vocal minority.
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Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation and
Chairman and CEO of Emirates airline and Group.
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United
and Delta Americans allegedly lobbying the US government to revise or dissolve
its its agreement of open skies with Gulf States. Emirates claim that the Qatar
Airways and Eithad Airways have privileged from the tax exemptions, loans and
some other favours summing up into $40 billion i.e. DH 147 billion, since 2004.the
airlines of US assert that the state subsidies are violating the trade policy
of America.
Clark
stated that altering the agreement of open skies makes no sense absolutely,
which permits Emirates to fly from its Dubai hub to any point in US. And this,
at a time, when the requirements of overarching of the Middle Eastern
geopolitical calculus needs the relationships to get cemented but not
fractured.
On Wednesday, commenting on US
carrier claims was declined by the Eithad Airways. Qatar Airways also didn’t
acknowledged a commenting request.
Clark asked how the three
airlines of US reached the figure of $40 billion, which he specified had all
benefited from the chapter 11, bankruptcy law, of US that, granted them to reorganize
and cut the costs.
He mentioned in the statement
emailed to the Gulf News that they have never collected financial bailouts or
subsidies. They did collected, in 1985, the start up capital of $10 million,
and an investment of $88 million of onetime infrastructure for two aircrafts,
Boeing 727, and a training building.
He also added that this
investment has been more than reimbursed by dividend payments to Dubai
Government, which sum up over $2.8 billion till date.
Director of UK-based JLS
Consultants, John Strickland, said that the US carriers are much concerned
about the supplementary growth of Gulf carrier into the market of US but would
be pressurized to convince the government of US to modify the open skies
agreement.
He said via email that the potential
association of ending up the open skies agreement would be extending to the
interlinked 21st century global economy. That is why the pressure
would to avoid it.