Gulf airlines
AIRPORT CASE STUDIES The airlines, of course, do not work alone when deciding where to launch their next route – there is an awful lot of lobbying from airports. Qatar, for example, launched fl ights to Budapest from Doha via Bucharest on January 17 this year after three years of negotiations.
Budapest
Patrick Bohl, head of airline development at Budapest Airport, says: “We have been working with the big three Gulf airlines for almost three years showing what we have to offer. The great news for us is that they’re all competing with each other to attract as many tourists as possible into Europe. It’s healthy competition. “That’s why I think we can attract a second Gulf carrier as there will be so much demand. I’m sure there’s enough for two carriers.”
He believes that medium-sized cities such as Budapest and Copenhagen can support more than just one carrier on the same route after one or two years. However, he adds: “That is not necessarily our objective. “We are in contact with Etihad and Emirates, but if Qatar increases
its frequency, then we do not need to actively approach [Etihad and Emirates].”
Budapest is currently served by four
fl ights per week to Doha. Bohl is keen to see that increase to daily or double daily on a narrow-bodied aircraft.
He also believes that Budapest would make a good hub for Gulf carriers fl ying on to Asia-Pacifi c.
“At the moment people have to fl y to
Western Europe fi rst and then backtrack to Budapest,” he says.
“Japanese tourists are the largest group from Asia but at the moment we don’t have a non-stop fl ight for them – how much more attractive would it be if we did? And we’ve also got strong demand from China.”
Copenhagen It’s a similar story at Copenhagen, where Emirates launched direct fl ights from Dubai on August 1 last year. Qatar launched a service on March 31, operating an A319 aircraft. “Airlines have got to operate a narrow-bodied aircraft for the fi rst two years [to ensure that the demand is there] before they switch to a wide- bodied aircraft such as an A330,” explains
Ole Wieth Christensen, director of airline sales and route development. “It’s been a very long process; we’ve been dealing with Emirates for years.” In terms of what is fuelling demand to a city the size of Copenhagen, with a population of just 539,000, he is clear about the fi rst reason. “The main difference between the Danish and Swedish economies and the rest of Europe is that we are doing well despite the crisis. The rebound here has been quite strong; we have been using that,” he enthuses. The second is transfer traffi c: a large percentage of the Scandinavian market use Dubai as a stopover to go Down Under. “They’ve got strong leisure fl ows to Australia and New Zealand. They are extremely strong there,” notes Christensen. The third is cruises. The cruise sector is booming, especially out of the Baltic, which has overtaken the Mediterranean as the world’s second most popular cruise destination.
“Copenhagen Port is the largest cruise ship turnaround in Northern Europe. The cruise ship industry has been booming for the last 10 years. Australians like to go on cruises and we’ve seen a lot more Indians too, and Emirates has a lot of fl ights to those countries,” he says.
Obaidalla says: “Emirates’ strategy of offering travellers the opportunity to fl y directly to regional cities is continuing to prove successful, not just in the UK where it fl ies from six airports, but also in markets such as India, where it fl ies from 10.
“Emirates is continually looking at regional airports to assess levels of demand for possible new services. “In the UK, Emirates’ newest regional route – from Newcastle – continues to go from strength to strength, and has passed the half millionth passenger mark just over three years after the service launched.
“Hamburg, Nice, Milan, Düsseldorf and
Venice are also good examples of this ‘regional strategy’ giving German, French and Italian travellers living close to these airports a greater choice of destinations.
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“Düsseldorf also attracts passengers from eastern Holland and Belgium, whilst the catchment area for the Venice service includes south-western Austria, Slovenia and northern Croatia. “We expect to attract passengers from Eastern France for our new Geneva route.”
The future
So where next for the Gulf carriers – can we see them launching services into ever smaller cities to join up the dots across Europe?
Qatar would not give a specifi c
answer, merely stating it would “continue its expansion across Europe”. Knight would only say that Etihad is “always interested in looking at new markets and opportunities”.
However, Emirates was a lot more forthcoming, stating that there were a number of cities it was considering when asked whether Barcelona, Budapest and Stockholm were on the list. Obaidalla says: “We obviously have a wish list of destinations in Europe and when the circumstances are right, and there is an opportunity, we move forward. “Spain was one of the countries we often received enquiries about, before we were able to announce fl ights to Madrid in August of last year. “There was also a great deal of talk about Amsterdam before we started services there in May 2010. “It is well known that, amongst other initiatives, we wish to open up routes to Berlin and Stuttgart, supplementing our four existing gateways into Germany.”
RN
www.routes-news.com
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