How fundamental a shift is to occur in long haul airline consumer travel, the Economist describes the growth of Emirates, Qatar Airlines and Etihad Airlines here. Interestingly, the Economist dissects the complaints of the European carriers, disqualifies them and only offers that continued success is to follow.
The impact on the "business" of airlines in the West will be fundamental and foundational. In the Air Transport World article here. Note that the comments at the end of this article are particularly poignant:
"Pointing to that order, CAPA commented that the eventual size of Emirates will be "significant enough to make irreversible the airline industry's transformation from a heavily regulated, nationalistic anachronism to something approaching a real business. No longer can traditional competitors hope to stave off this threat to the status quo, as they have been hoping in recent years while the airline expanded threateningly. This order marks a genuine turning point in that process of change. It is so large in fact that competitors' business plans will be reshaped by it.""
The Economist's Adam Barns (Gulliver here) provides both business and consumer insights in the audio below:
