Gulf airlines in Australia/New Zealand: Auckland non-stops as Qatar Airways disrupts the status quo

The market between Australia and the Gulf witnessed significant strategic developments in Mar-2016. Emirates launched a non-stop Dubai-Auckland flight, taking the mantle of world's longest flight. Significantly, Emirates beat Qatar Airways to it. Qatar's public musing in Jan-2016 about opening a Doha-Auckland service prompted Emirates to put on the Auckland flight at short notice: the service was announced a week after Qatar's mention and flown a mere five weeks later.

Qatar was looking to have another oneworld one stop option between Auckland and Europe, as well as looking to boost its presence in the region, where it has significantly lagged Emirates and Etihad. Emirates' Auckland non-stop has indirectly seen Emirates cancel Panama City service, which was less strategically important and believed to be encountering difficulties as Lufthansa tried to prevent Copa from codesharing with Emirates.

The second development was Qatar Airways' long-awaited service to Sydney. Combined with an Adelaide flight in May-2016, Qatar's size in Australia will double in 2016. Qatar is now considering - traffic rights permitting - a second daily Sydney flight and a new service to Brisbane. The growth disrupts what Etihad, but especially Emirates, were hoping would be a cooling of Gulf-Australia capacity after years of fast growth.