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Emirate Cuts Services To America As Donald Trump's Actions Bites. by EYIBLESSN(m): 9:29am On Apr 21, 2017 |
WHEN American officials
announced last month that laptops and
tablets would be banned from aeroplane
cabins on flights from certain Muslim
countries, many questioned the
administration's motive. Was it a
proportionate response to specific
intelligence about a terrorist threat? Or
had the government taken the
opportunity to clobber swanky foreign
operators that compete with the
country’s own woeful airlines?
If the latter view is too cynical, we can
at least say that, for America’s carriers,
it has been a serendipitous byproduct.
On April 19th, Emirates announced that
it is cutting its services to the United
States by 20%. The United Arab Emirates
(UAE), the airline’s home, was one of ten
Muslim countries covered by the laptop
ban. By happy coincidence, no
American carriers served airports that
were affected.
The restrictions on
electronic devices
are a particular
problem for
Emirates and the
other Middle
Eastern
“superconnectors”,
Etihad, also of the
UAE, and Qatar
Airways. Direct
traffic between
America and these
airlines’ hubs is
modest: most
passengers use
them to connect to
or from other
destinations across
the globe. That gives customers a wide
choice. The laptop ban has probably
encouraged those flying between
America and Asia, for example, to
connect in Europe, which was not
affected by the edict. Despite the
superconnectors coming up with novel
ways around the restrictions—such as
loaning premium travellers laptops for
the duration of a flight—the thought of
12 hours in the air without a personal
device is clearly too much for many
passengers to bear.
The new administration has made life
difficult for the big Middle Eastern
airlines in other ways, too. Emirates and
the rest also cater to connecting traffic
from the Muslim countries affected by
President Trump’s immigration ban,
such as Iran. (That order has since been
overturned by the courts.) More widely,
many travellers, particularly Muslims,
have become nervous about travelling to
America, fearing over-zealous
interrogation by immigration officials,
or being denied entry on spurious
grounds.
All of which has forced Emirates to clip
its wings. The airline currently operates
126 flights from Dubai to 12 American
cities. Next month it will fly 101. Neither
Qatar Airways or Etihad have yet said
they will follow suit, but it is likely that
they are feeling the pinch too.
It is not just these airlines’ owners that
need be concerned. The cuts by Emirates
are indicative of two wider problems.
The first is the effect that Donald Trump
is having on America’s travel sector. On
April 17th, Arne Sorenson, the boss of
Marriott, the world’s largest hotel chain,
became the latest in what has become a
long line of travel-industry beasts to
warn that interest in visiting America is
waning in the wake of the president’s
actions. Travel and touriusm currently
accounts for 8% of the country’s GDP
and 13.7m jobs. That should give cause
for worry.
But American flyers should care too. As
our leader in this week’s print edition
spells out, there is one simple reason
why service on the country’s airlines
lags so far behind Europe and Asia: a
lack of competition. The cosy oligopoly
operated by American, United and Delta,
which stifles competition on many
routes, allows them to treat customers
with disdain. If foreign carriers like
Emirates, renowned for exemplary
service, start to operate fewer flights,
domestic airlines will have even less
reason to be nice. |
Re: Emirate Cuts Services To America As Donald Trump's Actions Bites. by pendragon35(m): 2:22pm On Apr 21, 2017 |
nawa problem everywhere 1 Like |
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