Emirates responds to airberlin-Etihad alliance with capacity and equipment upgrades to Germany

A significant initial outcome of last year's airberlin-Etihad alliance is the capacity increase airberlin and Etihad have implemented over the past week between Germany and Abu Dhabi. Emirates has responded with its own capacity increases, the fact of which is unsurprising. What is interesting is how Emirates had operated to the restrictive and limited German market with A340-300s, which it is in the process of disposing. Emirates in recent times had largely confined the A340-300, with older and less premium interiors, to secondary markets, but the rapid increase in competition in the form of airberlin-Etihad is seeing Emirates deploy its more competitive Boeing 777-300s.