Emirates accuses Lufthansa of undermining business model
Emirates President Tim Clark stated Lufthansa's bid to prevent Emirates from serving more German cities is part of the carrier's campaign to undermine its Middle Eastern rival's business model (The National/Bloomberg/Reuters, 18-Jan-2011). Lufthansa has been successful in lobbying to prevent Emirates from obtaining landing slots in Stuttgart and at the new Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport, which is scheduled to open in Jun-2011. The carrier added that services to the airports remain "under-serviced" in terms of intercontinental services. Mr Clark said Emirates aims to "re-engage" with the German Government over the slots issue before the summer and is hopeful it "will see sense". Lufthansa spokesman Peter Schneckenleitner stated it sees no reason for Emirates to be awarded further routes, while adding that traffic rights are negotiated between governments and that the carrier has no direct influence on decision-making.
Lufthansa: "We think there is a big imbalance in the allocation of slots. Emirates already flies to four airports in Germany while we only fly to one destination in Dubai. They have between five and six times more business on that route as a result. We can't predict what decision the German Government will take. We can only express our opinion. There is no bilateral air traffic relationship with any other country that is as unequal as between Germany and Dubai," Wolfgang Weber, spokesman. Source: The National, 18-Jan-2011.
Emirates: "Their mantra is to take the Gulf carriers down, as well as dominate the markets they sit in. It has taken European carriers donkeys' years to adapt their business models to the changing dynamics of global civil aviation. They haven't been able to align their traffic flows to what is going on, whereas we have," Tim Clark, President. Source: Bloomberg, 18-Jan-2011.
Lufthansa: "We don't see any reason to award further traffic rights to Emirates as the airline already enjoys continental Europe's most expansive rights in Germany. It's the airline's declared goal to reroute traffic from Germany and Europe via Dubai," Peter Schneckenleitner, spokesman. Source: Bloomberg, 18-Jan-2011.