Middle East network carriers strategies vary on partnerships but both seem to work

Emirates has found itself in the limelight after impacting comments about how it does not like to pursue partnership strategies, unlike - although not explicitly named - its neighbour up the road, Etihad Airways, which has made partnerships a fundamental point of its business and has approximately 30.

But while Emirates and Etihad have the same broad strategy, nuances mean both carriers have chosen strategically sound paths and have little need to defend their strategies. Thierry Antinori, who last year turned down the CEO role at Lufthansa Group's Austrian Airlines to join Emirates as EVP Passenger Sales, told Reuters that at Emirates "we prefer to buy airplanes than airlines" and mused on partnerships: "We do not lose time in discussion with alliances, which are not very clear for the customer to understand. They say 'we offer you seamless travel' but in the end they offer seamless trouble."