Gulf carriers will cover coast to coast from New York to Seattle.
By Updesh Kapur/Doha
The land of opportunity is flavour of the month, or more appropriately flavour of 2014, as preparations are well underway for a very busy calendar year ahead.
The next 12 months will witness unprecedented activity in the air corridor that links the Gulf and the US.
It will be the busiest period for air traffic between the two regions with more routes, more flights and more seat capacity than ever before connecting both markets.
In recent weeks the Big 3 Gulf airlines – Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad – have announced the launch of new 2014 routes to destinations worldwide in line with their year-on-year aggressive growth strategy.
In a year when all three airlines will open up almost 20 new routes between them across different continents, one-third of these will be to the US alone.
Beginning in March, the region’s three mega carriers will open up six new routes between them in the space of nine months. Two of the destinations will be new on the Gulf roadmap – Boston and Miami.
The American expansion will see the number of routes operated by the Big 3 increase from 14 now to 20 by the end of next year.
Currently there are 119 weekly scheduled passenger flights between the three Gulf neighbours and the US. By this time next year, frequency will rise 30% to 154 weekly services, but this figure is likely to change as the carriers are almost certain to announce further US expansion.
The love affair with the US started in 2004 by Dubai’s Emirates has excelled well beyond the honeymoon period and set to continue with passion as the three rivals look to cement their presence in the skies between both parts of the world.
After Emirates’ foray into the US with New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, it quickly ramped up its presence to seven destinations across the country now also covering Dallas, Houston, Washington and Seattle.
By far the biggest Gulf operator to the US, Emirates will add Boston to its portfolio in March 2014. The carrier has focused much of its recent American expansion on increasing frequency and seating capacity on established routes such as New York and LA, whether it’s deploying additional daily flights or inducting the near 500-seater Airbus A380 super jumbo.
Qatar Airways entered the American market in 2007 with route launches from Doha to New York and Washington due mainly to the arrival of new long haul aircraft into its fleet. Houston was added in 2008, but it took five years before the national carrier ventured further into the US market with the introduction of scheduled passenger flights to Chicago last summer.
2014 will see the airline’s ambitious US expansion plans take shape with not one, nor two, but three American destinations added in a four-month period starting in April – Philadelphia followed in June by Miami and soon after Dallas.
By contrast, Etihad, the national carrier of the UAE, will add two new routes – Los Angeles and Dallas, six months apart starting in June. It already flies to New York, Washington and Chicago.
So why the sudden fascination with the US?
For starters, the Gulf carriers have, in recent years, concentrated much of their dramatic expansion in Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Without a strong network in these markets, it wasn’t feasible for the Gulf carriers to develop a stronghold in the US.
With coverage saturated in their core markets, and considering emerging passenger traffic flows, it was only natural to expand into unexplored territory. Quite ironic when the US is the world’s biggest aviation market!
The arrival of long haul planes has helped the carriers open up new non-stop services linking their Gulf hubs with cities across the US that have flying times of between 12 and 16 hours.
Growing bilateral relations and rising economic activity are always an impetus to stimulate movement of people between nations. Air capacity, both passenger and cargo, is therefore a crucial component of any economic activity.
Bilateral trade between the GCC and the US increased from $71.1bn in 2010 to $123.7bn last year – a rise of almost 74% according to figures released at a recent meeting of the US-Qatar Business Council in Washington.
The oil and gas energy connections of the Gulf and southern US are only too natural to take advantage of, but there are plenty of other sectors that can pave the way for more business. IT, logistics, construction, education, food, beverage and hospitality are just a few. Culture, sports, media, fashion, science, medicine and research are among the others.
The aviation sector on its own accounted for its fair share of the figures with US aircraft manufacturer Boeing a key supplier of planes to the three leading Gulf carriers. With the three placing combined orders for 250 aircraft worth almost $100bn during last month’s Dubai Air Show, the US is clearly a key trading partner for the region.
Qatar’s trade with the US has crossed $5.5bn so far this year, up from $3.6bn in 2010, and set to continue its growth path.
US Ambassador to the State of Qatar, Susan L Ziadeh said: “The aviation sector plays a key role in the ever expanding US-Qatar trade relationship. The new routes to the US operated by Qatar Airways are just one example as Qatar Airways now flies to four US cities with three more to be added in 2014.
“As Qatar grows as both a travel hub and a destination for international travellers, its expanding aviation links to the US will increase the flow of investors, tourists and students between both countries and ultimately strengthen our people-to-people exchanges.”
The fact that six American universities have overseas campuses within Qatar’s Education City is a reflection of the strong relationship the two countries share which Ambassador Ziadeh clearly alludes to.
Her comments can also be echoed by developments in the UAE.
With trade between the Gulf and the US enjoying sharp annual increases, it isn’t this alone that has tempted more flights between the two intercontinental markets. The region’s aviation sector is facilitating traffic flows of travellers from different parts of the world.
The Gulf’s small population base is insufficient to fill the 400-plus aircraft based in Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi hence, the strategy to connect different parts of the world with air services via the Big 3 Gulf cities.
One of the world’s largest traffic flows is between South Asia – namely India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka – and the US. It is this air corridor that the Gulf has successfully tapped into with the advent of US flights but only after having built up a strong presence in South Asia. This will continue and only strengthen as the Gulf carriers bolster their position with more flights to and from these key Asian markets.
With domestic US airline partners, the Big 3 can transport passengers further afield beyond their American gateway cities to destinations that are not viable as stand-alone non-stop flights from the Gulf.
These include cities across the US as much as cross border destinations in Central America, South America and the Caribbean via Houston and Miami. Flights to Florida’s commercial capital of Miami are long-awaited, hailed as a potential money spinner being a key gateway to neighbouring countries where there are limited or no services from Asia and the Middle East.
In reverse, giving travellers easier and quicker access to the Gulf and beyond to rest of the Middle East, Africa and Asia, has opened up an air corridor bypassing congested hub airports in Europe.
One would question why only two US carriers currently operate flights to the Gulf: daily Delta services from Atlanta to Dubai and United serving the UAE city daily from Washington with an onward hop to Doha. It’s more to do with business strategy and pursuing traffic flows than anything else.
As mentioned earlier, one of the world’s largest traffic flows is between the US and South Asia. It is neither economically practical nor profitable for a US carrier to fly its own metal (aircraft) to the Gulf in large numbers when much of the passenger traffic is connecting onwards. To rely on partner airlines to carry passengers onwards to these larger markets is not deemed feasible.
Gulf airline executives clearly point out the US is the last missing piece in a global jigsaw. It is a natural progression of organic growth. All sing from the same hymn sheet – one cannot be a true global player without being part of the world’s largest aviation market.
It is inevitable that the Big 3 will continue their US growth, more likely through increased frequency and bigger aircraft deployment than new route openings.
Of the major US cities yet unexplored, only time will tell whether two of America’s biggest cities – Atlanta and Detroit – will feature on the Gulf’s radar.
Watch this space!
In the air
Qatar Airways: Flies from Doha to New York, Washington, Houston and Chicago.
NEW for 2014: Philadelphia (daily, April 2), Miami (four-times-a-week, June 10) and Dallas (daily, July 1).
Emirates: Flies from Dubai to New York, Washington, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.
NEW for 2014: Boston (daily, March 10)
Etihad: Flies from Abu Dhabi to New York, Washington and Chicago.
NEW for 2014: Los Angeles (daily, June 1) and Dallas (three-times-a-week, December 3)
*Updesh Kapur is a PR & communications professional, writer, aviation and travel analyst. He can be contacted at [email protected]