Asian Airlines' changing presence at London Pt 2: Emirates' virtual growth, others try Gatwick

This is the final part of a report looking at airlines from greater Asia (including the Middle East) and how they are changing the landscape of London. Latest developments include Emirates' decision to complement its five daily A380 flights between Dubai and London Heathrow with codeshares on Qantas' forthcoming double daily Dubai-London Heathrow services. This will increase frequency with flow-on effects across Emirates' mighty hub, allowing shorter connections and more seats to be filled.

Etihad, which is the smallest of the Middle East network carriers at Heathrow, has received a boost by partnering on Aer Lingus' services.

Meanwhile Air China and Korean Air are complementing their Heathrow services with organic expansion, but to Gatwick, which sees less capacity than their Heathrow flights.

MAS has increased capacity with double daily A380 flights to Heathrow while Thai Airways does not intend to deploy its A380s to Heathrow. Garuda will open a service to Gatwick with 777-300ERs and Philippine Airlines with its 777-300ERs hopes to expand to London too if the Philippines can be removed from the EU blacklist.