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Etihad


Low-cost competition Competition abounds in the Middle East market, with a host of new and aggressive LCCs launching operations over the past decade, many of which offer competitive fares to Etihad’s six all-economy destinations. Air Arabia was the Middle East’s first LLC, beginning operations from Sharjah International Airport in October 2003. The airline now flies to 46 destinations from its main Sharjah hub, 11 destinations from Casablanca and five countries from Alexandria. The airline also services all six of Etihad’s all-economy routes.


Within the UAE itself, flydubai took to the skies in June 2008 with a fleet of Boeing 737s. The LLC operates out of Dubai International Airport’s Terminal 2 and services 26 destinations, including Alexandria, Colombo, Damascus and Doha.


RAK Airways, Ras al-Khaimah’s airline, relaunched operations in 2010 with a ‘value-for-money’ business model intended to position the airline somewhere between full service carriers such as Etihad, and LLCs like Air Arabia and flydubai. The airline currently serves five destinations, including Calicut in India.


However, Baumgartner is unfazed by this low-cost competition, saying that Etihad’s quality product differentiates its service from the three budget airlines also operating out of the UAE.


“Etihad Airways’ all-economy service is designed as a competitive product in key markets in the region,


www.routesonline.com


while maintaining the high standards of service we have become known for,” he maintains.


“It is important to note that Etihad is not positioning itself as a low-cost carrier on its routes, but rather reacting to the strong demand for economy seats by implementing an all-economy service. Etihad’s all-economy services operate the same high standard of economy product and service that we offer on all flights on our network of 66 destinations.”


No budget carrier plans And will Etihad consider launching a low-cost carrier airline in the future? It seems not.


“It is not in Etihad’s plan to launch a low-cost carrier at present. We will continue to service our routes based on passenger demand and maintain flexible fleet planning to ensure we maximise passenger loads,” Baumgartner confirms.


Etihad may not be about to launch a spin-off LCC but its move to embrace all-economy services is a clear indication that it hopes to expand its reach within certain key markets.


There remains plenty of scope for the carrier. With Etihad’s eight destinations in India (Bangalore – which it added in January – New Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Calicut and Thiruvananthapuram) and a total of 49 flights per week, it seems likely that some of these key Indian points could be next in line for all-economy service when the aircraft become available.


RN


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