Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways: Dallas becomes the hub crossroad for all three Gulf airlines

Gulf carriers Etihad and Qatar are continuing to expand their US presence rapidly during 2014 as each gears up to launch service to Dallas/Fort Worth, a market Emirates added to its network in Feb-2012. Once the new service to Dallas launches, it will become the third US market where all of the three big Gulf carriers will compete head-on. Presently, Emirates, Etihad and Qatar serve New York JFK and Washington Dulles from their respective hubs in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha.

During the past couple of years both Etihad and Qatar have been working to narrow the edge Emirates has in the US. Once Qatar launches flights to DFW, Miami and Philadelphia in 2014 it will offer service from Doha to seven destinations, while the number of markets served by Emirates grows to eight once new service from Dubai to Boston debuts in Mar-2014.

Qatar's introduction of flights from Doha in Jul-2014, followed by Etihad's Dec-2014 launch from Abu Dhabi to DFW, will result in two of American's Middle Eastern partners introducing service to their respective hubs within a few months. As it unveiled plans to serve Dallas, Etihad promoted its relationship with American, which stands to reap the benefits of added feed from the Gulf to its US domestic network and markets in Central and Latin America. And so DFW becomes the meeting place for all three of the Gulf airlines, complete with the alliance complexities that brings.