Emirates: DL Didn't need to Cancel ATL - DXB. It was 85% Full...
Emirates airline argued Friday that Delta Air Lines doesn't need to drop its route between Atlanta and Dubai because it should be profitable – and one that Emirates will consider adding to its 10 U.S. destinations.
The route dispute is the latest spat between U.S. and Middle East airlines over alleged subsidies making competition between the carriers unfair.
Delta announced Wednesday that it would stop flying to Dubai effective Feb. 11, 2016, and move its Boeing 777 aircraft to a different route across the Atlantic. Delta complained that 11,000 daily seats have been added between the U.S. and Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi from 2008 through 2014, with rivals at Emirates, Etihad and Qatar “heavily subsidized” by their government owners.
But the Delta planes were 85% full and should have generated a 7% profit margin on the Dubai route, or $10 million per year, according to an Emirates analysis of industry data.
“By any airline’s standards, these are lucrative conditions and hardly reason to cease the ATL - DXB service,” Emirates said in a statement. “Our route planners are now closely studying the opportunity for Emirates to fill in the gap when Delta exits the non-stop ATL - DXB service.”
Delta spokeswoman Kate Modolo said airlines don't cancel profitable routes, as a rule, and didn't in this case.
"The route has been losing money for two years because of government-subsidized capacity from the Gulf carriers that have flooded the U.S. market, violated the Open Skies agreement and ultimately forced Delta to cancel the route and redeploy the aircraft to a market not distorted by government subsidy," she said.
The dispute over the Dubai route comes as the three largest U.S. airlines – Delta, American and United – have accused their rivals in the Persian Gulf of receiving $42 billion in unfair subsidies during the last decade from their government owners.
