Emirates continues courting American as ink dries on Qantas deal

Emirates is continuing a year-long pursuit of a codeshare tie-up with American Airlines as its landmark deal with American's fellow oneworld partner Qantas continues to rattle age-old assumptions about the value of alliances in the current aviation marketplace. Emirates' attempts to forge strategic agreements with two oneworld partners should not be interpreted as a prelude to alliance membership. Of the three large Gulf carriers Emirates remains steadfast in its strategy of pursuing organic growth, while Etihad and Qatar seem more inclined to forge equity stakes in other carriers or explore fully-fledged alliance membership.

Should Emirates prove successful in persuading American to forge a partnership, it could create thorny issues in American's current relationship with Etihad and Qatar's reported interest in joining oneworld. Emirates president Tim Clark outlined the carrier's desire to partner with American on 12-Sep-2012 near Washington, DC, at a celebration marking the inaugural flight of Emirates' new service from Dubai to Washington Dulles International Airport.