Emirates and its ilk have two massive advantages over the other airlines.
1) Geography - they are at the intersection of 3 continents and just close enough to the other 3 populated ones. They have the perfect location for a hub.
2) Like you said (something I had never thought of), they have cheap oil to fuel the planes, which is the first or second largest cost (after labor) for an airline depending on what oil prices are.
I have definitely gotten the impression that Emirates (which while "Middle Eastern" is pretty much run and flown by British commonwealth executives & pilots) realized that if they could run a first world airline with good service and safety, they could become an enormous player, which they have. Before them, the perception of ME airlines were that they were pretty dodgy. Now, it certainly feels to me that everyone seems to love them almost as much as Singapore Airlines.
When I took a developmental economics course, we actually discussed how poor ME nations like Egypt could utilize their geography for an airline hub. Looks like Emirates pulled the trigger on the obvious smart business move (though UAE isn't poor).
Other big carriers whining isn't a new experience for Emirates. Air Canada got butt hurt over Emirates stealing their what sounds like very lucrative business of flying Indians in Toronto to and from India and demanded they not get new landing slots at Pearson. The UAE retaliated by shutting down a staging base for the Canadian Armed Forces in Afghanistan.
Wonderfully childish behavior on both sides![[Image: dodgy.gif]](https://rooshvforum.network/images/smilies/dodgy.gif)
Basically, the only thing keeping legacy Flag Carriers (which Delta, American, and especially United are for the US and AC is for Canada) is their lock on inter continental routes due to ridiculous restrictions put on how airlines may operate internationally. Their domestic and close nation routes are getting destroyed by airlines like Southwest and Ryan Air. In addition the Big 3, like the auto Big 3, have massive legacy costs with unions that really drag on them. If the rules were ever to change on how airlines could operate on long haul international flights, the Big 3 would be finished.
1) Geography - they are at the intersection of 3 continents and just close enough to the other 3 populated ones. They have the perfect location for a hub.
2) Like you said (something I had never thought of), they have cheap oil to fuel the planes, which is the first or second largest cost (after labor) for an airline depending on what oil prices are.
I have definitely gotten the impression that Emirates (which while "Middle Eastern" is pretty much run and flown by British commonwealth executives & pilots) realized that if they could run a first world airline with good service and safety, they could become an enormous player, which they have. Before them, the perception of ME airlines were that they were pretty dodgy. Now, it certainly feels to me that everyone seems to love them almost as much as Singapore Airlines.
When I took a developmental economics course, we actually discussed how poor ME nations like Egypt could utilize their geography for an airline hub. Looks like Emirates pulled the trigger on the obvious smart business move (though UAE isn't poor).
Other big carriers whining isn't a new experience for Emirates. Air Canada got butt hurt over Emirates stealing their what sounds like very lucrative business of flying Indians in Toronto to and from India and demanded they not get new landing slots at Pearson. The UAE retaliated by shutting down a staging base for the Canadian Armed Forces in Afghanistan.
Wonderfully childish behavior on both sides
Basically, the only thing keeping legacy Flag Carriers (which Delta, American, and especially United are for the US and AC is for Canada) is their lock on inter continental routes due to ridiculous restrictions put on how airlines may operate internationally. Their domestic and close nation routes are getting destroyed by airlines like Southwest and Ryan Air. In addition the Big 3, like the auto Big 3, have massive legacy costs with unions that really drag on them. If the rules were ever to change on how airlines could operate on long haul international flights, the Big 3 would be finished.