Emirates at the European Aviation Club
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Issue 5 | December 2009
Emirates at the European Aviation Club
The President of Emirates Airline, Tim Clark, recently delivered a major
speech on Emirates and the aviation industry to the European Aviation
Club in Brussels. The speech focussed on the interests of consumers,
with particular reference to alliances, consolidation, competition and
liberalisation. Open Sky publishes key highlights of the speech on page
three of this issue and the full text is available on our website.
David Robertson, a business correspondent with the Times of London and
Emirates Business 24/7, said of the speech: “Is Clark right to so obviously
link the massive aircraft orders that Emirates has made, which support
thousands of manufacturing jobs across Europe, with Europe’s sometimes
restrictive rules on access to its airports? Absolutely.”
He said, “One of the other issues Clark raised was the anti-competitive
nature of airline consolidation and alliances. If two carriers operating the
same route merge and competitors continue to be kept out by regulators,
this reduces competition and inevitably prices go up. Clark’s comments
were timely as just hours after his speech British Airways and Iberia,
Spain’s flag carrier, announced plans to merge…The economic downturn
has hit airlines hard and this has triggered a wave of consolidation with
deals being waved through by regulators who do not want to be the cause
of an airline going bust. ‘In our view, airline competition runs the risk of
being the forgotten story of this recession and in to 2010’ said Clark.”
Forced to increase fares to match alliance carriers
Most don’t believe it’s true. In 2009, could an international airline be Emirates prices its tickets commercially, competitively and fairly for
singled out by a government agency and told to increase its fares to match consumers in all markets we serve. How else have we remained profitable
competitor pricing on key routes? Wouldn’t that be illegal in much of the with a loyal customer base? Yet the German policy removes our ability
world? Incredibly such a policy is alive and well in the most unlikely of to compete fairly with our one-stop service via Dubai against direct
places: the developed, open and competitive G8 economy of Germany. competitor services on these routes. We believe not only is this anti-
competitive but that this selective and non-transparent tariff matching
The German Federal Office for Goods Transport recently wrote to Emirates policy is not in the interests of German consumers.
to instruct us on the issue of ‘price leadership’ for our business class fares
on three international routes from Frankfurt to Johannesburg, Hamburg In the case of Frankfurt to Johannesburg, our tariff was not even the
to Singapore and Berlin to Singapore. We were told that we must raise lowest available fare offered by a non-EU carrier and the tariffs offered by
our fares immediately so that these aligned with certain other carriers, British Airways, KLM and Air France were significantly less than Emirates.
specifically two Star Alliance members. Given the scale of fines being And none of these prices appeared to change after Emirates had adjusted
threatened, Emirates had no choice but to adjust the tariffs in question. our own tariffs. Could you imagine Mercedes asking government to force
We did so under protest. Lexus to increase its price to match the German car, and this being law?
Flight path to Copenhagen
As the climate change debate gathers pace, aviation finds itself centre- enough has been achieved, despite ICAO’s own Group on International
stage in the lead up to the next UNFCCC meeting in Copenhagen (COP15). Aviation and Climate Change (GIACC) coming up with a proposal this year
to deal with global aviation emissions.
Having been left out of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, the industry was left to
find its own solution through the International Civil Aviation Organisation After intense negotiations at ICAO’s recent High Level Meeting (HLM) in
(ICAO). Many environmentalists and industry bodies have argued that not Montreal, this proposal was eventually endorsed by all Member States.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) played a key role in bridging the gap
between opposing views of developed and developing countries.
Emirates supports the ICAO and IATA proposals for dealing with aviation
emissions, including a global, sectoral approach and the setting of
achievable, equitable targets for fuel efficiency and carbon-neutral growth.
We also believe that fast-growing operators from rapidly developing
economies should be recognised, as well as airlines that have already
invested heavily in modern, fuel efficient fleets.
The aviation industry must be unified in its position. If not, the
responsibility of dealing with this issue will be taken out of our hands,
and given to the politicians, bureaucrats and environmental lobbyists.
The result will be a complex, overlapping patchwork of regional trading
schemes, taxes and levies - where industry and travellers will be forced to
pay for emissions several times over - and where none of these funds will
be invested back into aviation technology or biofuels research.
1
Connecting the unconnected Tunis
Travel in and out of Africa continues to be severely constrained and Casablanca
Tripoli
limited by a lack of connectivity. The inconvenience and additional cost to Cairo
passengers are obvious, with itineraries to and from Africa via a point in Dubai
Europe not uncommon.
Khartoum
We believe this precludes Africa from realising its full potential in terms of
Addis Ababa
tourism, business travel and economic development. Abidjan Lagos
Accra
Entebbe Eldoret
Emirates is fully committed to investing significantly across Africa. Recently Nairobi
we increased African services to the new destinations of Luanda, Angola Luanda
Dar es Salaam
and Durban, South Africa. We also announced an agreement at the Dubai Lilongwe
Airshow between the Government of Senegal and the Emirates Group for
the airline to support Senegal Airlines. This will include assistance in terms
of technical expertise, training and aviation-related goods and services. Johannesburg
Durban
Emirates also recently did research into international flight options available Cape Town
for three African markets (excluding flights in the African continent) and
compared them with what is available for travellers to and from Dubai. It Africa is a key market for Emirates. Starting with just three weekly services
showed more passengers chasing few flights for these African markets. to Cairo in 1986, Emirates today serves 18 destinations in 15 African
Assuming that Dubai, with significantly more travel options, has a flight- countries (including two freighter-only destinations), with 139 weekly
passenger connectivity index of 1.00, the three African destinations have frequencies, most on a non-stop basis. In 2009, Emirates added two new
significantly lower connectivity indices. destinations, Durban in South Africa and Luanda in Angola.
Countries MIDT bookings (October 08 - September 09) Frequencies operated per week Connectivity index
Angola 516,953 37 0.30
Nigeria 1,393,017 120 0.39
Ivory Coast 263,286 25 0.43
Dubai 10,699,992 2,245 1.00
Maldives – tourism and taxation
The largest industry by far in the Maldives is tourism, which currently through direct expenditures and marketing spend in the Maldives, Emirates
contributes almost 70% to GDP. The contribution of the travel and has spent significant sums on promoting the destination throughout its
tourism economy to employment stood at 64,000 jobs in 2008. network. Emirates Holidays has also actively promoted Maldives as a tourist
destination and in the last five years has sold more than 9,000 packages to
Since aviation plays a vital role in the sustainable development of Maldives.
many small countries like the Maldives, their international accessibility is
a key issue.
Emirates passenger traffic to/from Malé
Starting with three weekly services in May 1987, Emirates now operates
double daily flights, and is today one of 14 international carriers to operate
scheduled services to Malé and provides connectivity to a wide range of
other destinations over its Dubai hub. Between 2004/05 and 2008/09,
Emirates’ passenger carriage between Dubai and Malé grew at 11% per
annum - higher than the 3% growth in tourist arrival statistics into Maldives
during the same period.
In 2008/09 Emirates carried approximately 4,500 tonnes of cargo between
Dubai and the Maldives. In addition to injecting US$9.2 million in 2008/09
The aviation industry is concerned with the proposal of the Maldives
for an additional emissions levy on international aviation. Known as the
‘Maldives Adaptation Levy’, the proposal calls for a levy up to US$62 on all
international air tickets. This would create a US$10 billion per year fund
that would be administered by the UNFCCC, and handed out to
Less Developed Countries and Non-Governmental Organisations for climate
change ‘adaptation’ projects.
The concern of the airline sector is the damage this mega tax will do to
travel demand, that a vital industry and related sectors of tourism and trade
will be targeted beyond our environmental impact and that aviation will
suffer from an extraordinary duplication of taxes targeting the same issue.
2
Do German travellers pay more than their EU neighbours?
Following the intervention of the German Federal Office for Goods Transport to force Emirates to raise our fares to match certain Star Alliance carriers
(see page one), Open Sky has examined the overall state of fares in the German aviation market.
Our analysis of business and economy tariffs on direct services to various long-haul destinations from EU hub/gateway airports by their ‘home’ carriers,
suggests that as a consequence of some current German policies, Lufthansa’s own fares ex Frankfurt are being maintained at artificially high levels. They
are often the highest in the market by a large margin - something which is clearly to the detriment of German travellers and the German economy. The
following tables highlight some examples.
Fares on direct services to selected destinations from each airline’s EU hub/gateway airport
To Tokyo To San Francisco
Economy Fares (¤) Business Fares (¤) Economy Fares (¤) Business Fares (¤)
Lufthansa 638 Lufthansa 4,575 Lufthansa 369 Lufthansa 4,907
Japan Airlines 570 Air France 3,240 KLM 349 Virgin Atlantic 3,595
Air France 550 Japan Airlines 2,974 Virgin Atlantic 253 American Airlines 3,481
British Airways 513 British Airways 2,757 American Airlines 242 British Airways 2,799
Virgin Atlantic 513 Virgin Atlantic 2,757 Air France 190 KLM 2,263
KLM 294 KLM 2,450 British Airways 156 Air France 1,828
Source: August 2009, GDS displayed comparable discounted tariffs
Half-year financial results
Emirates Airline produced a net profit of US$205 million, for the first six have really tested our mettle. While some say the green shoots of
months of the current financial year, compared to US$77 million in net economy recovery are sprouting, we expect it will take at least another
profits for the same period in 2008 - with passenger seat factor averaging year or two, before demand for air transport and travel services starts
77.5%. During this period the airline made an estimated direct contribution picking up again.” The Airline Weekly comment on the results was, ‘‘Sure
of AED10 billion (US$2.7 billion) and an estimated indirect contribution of enough, Emirates took a big revenue hit from the economic downturn.
AED14 billion (US$3.8 billion) to the UAE economy. But its formidable advantages in the areas of fleet efficiency, airport
infrastructure, labour costs and geography remain intact. It also has a
HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, government, unlike many others, that recognises commercial aviation’s
Emirates Airline and Group said, “The months since the global meltdown contribution to economic growth.’’
Extracts from speech by Tim Clark to the European Aviation Club on
12 November 2009
“Our model is to operate a high-quality airline and brand, flying a fuel point in the world from our home. More of these far-flung cities have
and emission efficient fleet, offering travellers true value across a global come online since my last visit here, such as Cape Town, San Francisco,
network through our Dubai hub. Los Angeles and Guangzhou.
There are two ingredients, however, that stand out. I’m referring to our But it is how we have managed and integrated this network that is the key
brand and our network. to this recipe. Aviation is the globalised world and air services helped to
make the earth flat.
Valuable, successful airlines today are brands – Southwest is a strong
domestic brand of value, Emirates is a strong global brand of high- Our model works because we don’t have a one-dimensional route network
quality. The power of brand in our sector cannot be overstated. Emirates, of traditional Atlantic or Pacific crossings, or just the Kangaroo route or
for example, invests in sporting franchises over some other forms of focussing inside one region. Connecting Moscow to Durban, or Beijing to
marketing because of the brand impact such partnerships can offer. Luanda, or Hyderabad to LA, or Perth to Dubai, are some of the thousands
of examples of the new world’s city pairs.
Given the worth of an airline’s brand, those that cherish its value do
not hang their dirty laundry out for all to see… they do not wring their Those that ignore this changing nature of travel do a great disservice to
hands on a daily basis, talking down their business and talking up their the man or woman in the street.
woes. Negativity kills companies and there is stark evidence of this very
approach seriously damaging once great airlines of the world. And those airlines that regularly slash elements of their networks, or play
interference with capacity on vital corridors, are, in my view, in serious
Emirates, which endures many of the same challenges as our competitors long-term trouble.
– as well as a few unique ones, after all we’ve had a few wars in our
backyard in the past 20 years – is not in the business of pessimism. We Dismantling a network under the stress of short-term pain – which I
believe in our brand and behave accordingly. accept can often be acute in our industry – is nonetheless an anathema to
Emirates. I’m constantly amazed by the approach of some who think a
If an airline’s hub is its heart, then the coronary circulatory system is network is easy to reclaim after earlier culling in a weaker economic period.
its network. While we constantly fine tune the network, and even very
occasionally trim or remove unprofitable elements of it, our model is to Of course you must act commercially, but short-term acts of panic on a
utterly respect the interconnectiveness of a global platform. critical airline asset is wrong in my humble view.
I’m willing to confess to one advantage we enjoy over some competitors, We believe our pursuit of carefully planned, globally-diverse growth will
namely geography. We are blessed at being able to fly non-stop to any continue to pay dividends.”
3
The liberalisation debate in India
The formula is not unique. A legacy flag carrier experiencing significant
challenges in a downturn, coupled with their historic reform challenges. A
progressive, liberalising government pursues more open skies. A minority
try to connect the two as related, arguing competition is the root of a
legacy carrier’s problems.
Like Australia, Canada, France and Germany over the past decade, India
too is in the midst of a debate on airline protectionism, competition and
legacy carriers.
In response, the Indian Minister of State for Civil Aviation Praful Patel
recently said in the Indian Parliament that “liberalisation in international
services benefits the national economy as a whole with the tourism and
commerce sectors and addresses the need of a large NRI population
working overseas. Also, liberal exchange of traffic has helped in adding
capacity on international routes for benefit of the travelling people and also
opening up commercial opportunities for Indian carriers.”
Considering Emirates is one of the largest carriers operating to and from
India, we think it is important to inject evidence into this debate, including:
• I ndia became the main trading partner of Dubai in the first half of 2008,
with exports from both India and Dubai totalling US$2.26 billion in the
first six months of 2008.
• Passenger traffic between Dubai and India doubled between 2005 and
2008.
• Almost five million Indians travelled through Dubai International Airport
in 2008.
• Indians in Dubai were responsible for US$30 billion worth of remittances
to India in 2008.
• The UAE is India’s third largest trading partner with more than US$29
billion in bilateral trade and US$4.5 billion of investments in different
sectors of the Indian economy.
Minister Patel also said that bilaterals are a “part of an on-going process,
depending upon traffic demand, balance of benefit to Indian carriers, There are now five Indian carriers flying between India and Dubai with
overall interest of Indian economy together with diplomatic and a total of 157 frequencies per week and connecting Dubai to 18 points
political considerations. These agreements are based on the principles in India. Emirates operations have moved from 10 weekly frequencies to
of sovereignties of nations and reciprocity, in which a balance of two Indian points in October 1985, to 175 weekly frequencies to 10 Indian
opportunities and benefits are paramount.” points today.
Dawn of a new era in Japan
Japan is clearly demonstrating signs of significant liberalisation for one of statement made by Japanese Transport Minister Maehara to transform
the world’s largest and most important aviation markets. Haneda into a hub airport suggests that a major new aviation policy is on
the horizon.
The extension of Runway B at Narita will add 20,000 (10%) slots from April
2010, while the expansion of Haneda Airport involves a new fourth runway Since Narita Airport opened in 1978, Haneda Airport was mainly used
which will add 110,000 daytime slots (between 0600 to 2300 hours) and for domestic and chartered flights, while international flights were
an additional 30,000 early morning/late night slots. given access to Narita Airport on a limited basis owing to infrastructure
constraints at the airport.
Japan has also relaxed its strict procedures requiring an airline to use a
pre-designated runway at Narita. In addition, a recent and widely reported Whilst the previous Japanese government promoted deregulation in a
progressive manner, the recent announcement has prompted strong
interest among all those who advocate liberalisation.
A recent report by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation anticipates that
many factors such as the economic downturn in Japan, new ruling party,
negotiations for an open skies agreement with US, additional capacity
at Tokyo airports and Japan Airlines’ financial crisis provide a unique
opportunity to the new Japanese government for a change that will set
future direction of the North Asian aviation market.
North Asia in general and Japan in particular hold huge potential for growth
in aviation and the announced initiative would open up many opportunities
and stimulate growth in the travel and tourism sectors in Japan.
Emirates, the first Gulf-based carrier to serve Japan, has been operating
to Kansai since 2002. Recently, we were granted access to Narita with
a limited number of flights and from 28 March 2010, Emirates plans to
operate five non-stop services per week - in addition to our existing daily
non-stop services to Kansai.
4
Competition in the skies – positive boost for tourism
Tourism Australia’s (TA) recent submission to the Australian Competition
& Consumer Commission (ACCC) highlights that the tourism sector could
be the big loser from airline consolidation and the growing influence of
alliances. In its submission TA said that, “less competition between market
players may (result in) reduced advertising/marketing. Tourism is highly
reliant on marketing of the route by market players.”
Emirates own analysis of recent commercial agreements and applications
for anti-trust exemptions highlights two negative impacts for the tourism
industry:
• R
evenue and capacity sharing removes the positive competitive
and commercial tension from route pricing. Ultimately the result is
dominance for the alliances or those regulated to fly the route and
higher fares, pricing marginal travellers out of the market; and
• Overall reduction of destination advertising and marketing designed to
attract marginal travellers.
Tourism Australia also made the point that, “overall seat capacity is
important, not who the passenger flies with.”
Tied in with the issue of expanding competition, Emirates recently
announced the launch of a third wave of co-operative advertising with
Tourism Australia. The GB£2 million campaign across the UK is designed walkabout’ campaign - also matching this advertising commitment with
to stimulate demand for Australia as a destination, which has been hit hard tactical fare specials to entice marginal travellers down under. This is one
by the economic downturn. Over the past year, Emirates has invested over of the many stimulus initiatives Emirates is making with tourism authorities
GB£3.5 million in advertising in the UK, boosting Tourism Australia’s ‘Come across our network to boost demand.
Emirates conservation investment
Australia’s first luxury conservation-based resort, Wolgan Valley Resort &
Spa, welcomed its first guests in October.
The resort’s footprint is just 2% of the 4,000-acre site and delivers a
truly unique Australian experience. Bordering the Blue Mountains World
Heritage Site area, a conservation and biodiversity programme sits at
the heart of the project. Conservationists have spent the past two years
removing feral animals and noxious weeds from the former farming site.
The conservation team has rehabilitated the land and is reintroducing only
indigenous flora and fauna to the area.
The pre-historic Wollemi pine had been hidden from view for thousands
of years and was recently re-discovered in the area. This is now a symbol
of the resort and over 100 have been planted onsite along with 50,000
native plants that have been planted throughout the resort. The development
has been built to highest environmental standards and will be one of first
such resorts in the world to have a carbon neutral certification. Delivering Greater Lithgow region and create 1,500 jobs during construction and
the ambitious project saw Emirates inject over AU$100 million into the almost 100 permanent positions post opening.
Extracts from a recent speech by Bob Lekites, President UPS Airlines
– Let the river flow, trading for global prosperity
“The World Trade Organisation estimates that cutting trade barriers by one- This year, global trade is expected to fall by about 10%. Much of that is
third would add 613 billion dollars to the global economy…In the last 65 due to the poor economic conditions but a portion can be credited to trade
years, global trade has added an estimated one trillion dollars to the United restrictions. That’s the first time in more than 60 years that we’ve seen
States’ national income. such declines. I’m sorry to say that we’re at a dangerous crossroads for
global trade…
Numbers like these tell us something important: We need to stop looking at
free trade as a political issue. Instead, we need to view trade as a practical As business people and as political leaders we must speak out. We must
issue: figuring out what works and what doesn’t and pursuing the right make our case to politicians. And we must convince citizens that global
policies. There is no doubt in my mind that the path to economic prosperity trade grows jobs, builds prosperity and improves the everyday lives of our
extends over global trade routes. We in the airline-cargo industry have a citizens.
unique perch from which to view the benefits of global trade…
…What really works to increase prosperity, create jobs and bind nations
One billion consumers are expected to rise into the middle class in Brazil, closer together is one thing: free-flowing global commerce. Letting the
Russia, India and China in the next decade alone…Cordell Hull the great river of commerce flow down paths of least resistance. The future belongs
American statesman and friend of Latin America once said this, “When to countries that reject the siren song of protectionism and work to remove
trade crosses borders, armies do not.” the barriers to trade with other nations.”
5
2009 British Columbia International Open Skies Summit
The Premier of British Columbia hosted an open skies summit in
Vancouver on 25 September. Over 300 people attended, including the
Premier of Alberta, the Deputy Premier of Saskatchewan, a number of
provincial and municipal politicians, and a host of airline, airport, tourism,
business and consumer representatives.
With very few exceptions, the message delivered at the summit was
loud and clear: the federal government either needs to start making real
progress with open skies negotiations, or get out of the way of the large
- and growing - list of provincial governments and other stakeholders who
want more competition and choice for Canadians.
Emirates spoke at the event and was cited repeatedly throughout the
summit as an example of an airline wanting to increase service to Canada,
but being denied that by Transport Canada:
• B
arry Rempel, Chairman of the Canadian Airports Council: ‘’Our
position is clear. Open skies, period…But with many other countries
around the world, our government is slow, reluctant or downright hostile
to opening up market access.
Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and Panama are examples of
countries with whom we should have an open skies agreement, but we
do not…There are air carriers banging on Canada’s door, practically
begging to hire Canadians, help connect us to the world, and provide
more choice to consumers. Often times, they want to provide service
to parts of the world in which Canadian carriers haven’t the least bit of
interest. But our government says ‘no.’ Why?”
• T he Honourable Gordon Campbell, Premier of British Columbia
(pictured): “What do you hear in business today? You hear in business
that it’s not just about the pieces of paper and it’s not just about the
reports. It’s about the relationships you build. government. The United States, on the other hand, has signed more
than 90. These eight agreements have been with countries that, for
…And if I can say to a business person, ‘You know what, I can get you the most part, don't represent key priority markets for Alberta from a
from here to Dubai in 12 hours, instead of here to Dubai in 20 hours’, tourism, trade and investment perspective. And they don't provide what
that’s a benefit. It doesn’t just encourage our business people to go we consider to be full open skies.
overseas and to build the international connections they want and the
relationships they want. It encourages those international investors, …Alberta welcomed the Blue Sky policy when it was introduced
those international businesses to come back here and build the relations in 2006. But progress has been very slow…Blue Sky's negotiation
here, in our country that we want.” mandates are determined in secret. And its practices seem to ingrain
protectionism, rather than eliminate it. We need to take a broader, more
• T he Honourable Ed Stelmach, Premier of Alberta: “Since 2006, strategic approach that will improve the competitiveness of Canada's
only eight open skies agreements have been signed by the federal economy.’’
Views of the Premiers of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan
In conjunction with the Open Skies Summit on 25 September, working with Ottawa to build the infrastructure we need to support this
Premiers Campbell, Stelmach and Wall of British Columbia, Alberta growth - open-skies agreements with our key trading partners facilitate
and Saskatchewan, penned the following in Canada’s Globe and Mail the movement of business people, investors and tourists, enhancing
newspaper: opportunities throughout Western Canada…
‘’To meet our full economic potential, we need to expand international air In fewer than 150 days, the world is coming to Canada for the 2010 Winter
service so airlines can have unencumbered access to our airports… Olympics and Paralympic Games. The images and stories of our country
will be broadcast to an audience of three billion people. Yet without open
In today’s global economy, it simply doesn’t make sense to put needless skies agreements, 90 per cent of the countries competing in the games
restrictions on Canadian companies, or companies that want to work in will face restrictions on their ability to fly here.
Canada. While we acknowledge the work that the federal government has
done to date, we can’t afford to rest. Elected officials at every level, in every part of the country, are working
hard to rebuild a strong and competitive economy and create jobs.
We need to aggressively pursue more agreements. When countries and Working together to push for open skies agreements makes sense. These
companies choose the United States instead of Canada because access and agreements generate jobs, economic activity and investment. They
logistics are easier, it can be very difficult to get that business back… reaffirm the West’s role as the gateway to North America, and they are an
enormous economic potential.
Connection to the massive economies of Asia and the Pacific can mean
an increase in trade of CA$230 billion for Canada by 2020 and hundreds Open skies agreements are simply the right thing to do in today’s
of thousands of new jobs for Western Canada alone. We’ve been interconnected, global, and open trade-based economy.’’
6
UK Air Passenger Duty pushback
November saw the UK government introduce large increases in the rates
of Air Passenger Duty (APD) and bring in new banding levels based on the
ultimate destination of the passenger. In the lead up to this, there were
Monday September 21 2009 | www.journallive.co.uk | 50p
many in the UK and elsewhere who questioned both the timing and the
Picture: Nigel Dobsonwww.journallive.co.uk/buyaphoto ref: 00109417
O 54,000 take
environmental rationale behind this move. part in the
29th Great
North Run
O Superstar
The Newcastle Journal newspaper spent a good deal of September and Sting and
Harmison get
October highlighting the negative impact of the proposed hikes in APD race started
O Are you
for a wide cross-section of north eastern interests - including for local pictured in
our 16-page
businesses, holidaymakers, the region’s universities and even for prospects pullout?
O PLUS a
of the North East’s economic recovery. Headlines such as ‘’They’re calling it chance to win
£1,000 for your
a green tax - but it shows a red light to OUR exports, OUR holidays and run charity
OUR airports’’ leave little doubt regarding their editorial position. P3&29-44>>
How another sneaky
In November and in the context of the ongoing debate into the value tax rise will hit you Back>>
of aviation, the Airport Operators Association (AoA) in the UK released Taylor has
a report from Oxera into the wider contribution of aviation to the UK in the pocket the X-Factor
economy. It demonstrated that the aviation sector and its supply chain and damage FREE INSIDE
the prosperity T
HE Journal is today launching an
appeal to the Government to scrap
make a significant contribution to the UK’s economic output (GB£18.4
plans for new taxes which threaten
to have a devastating impact on the
regional economy.
Air Passenger Duty is set to rise twice in the
next 14 months – meaning it will be four times as
billion gross value added), employment generated (234,000 jobs) and via
high as it was just three years ago.
of the region
That means the prices of holidays abroad will
go up, while the prosperity of the region’s
airports will be threatened.
And exports – on which the
tax contribution to the Exchequer (GB£4.8 billion and an additional £3
North so heavily relies – could Full story
also be badly hit by the rises,
which we say are a tax too far. 4&5
billion via its supply chain).
From The Daily Mail newspaper in UK, 31 October 2009
Flight taxes hiked to bail out banks: It’s nothing to do with
environment, says Darling
Flight taxes are being raised to help bail out the banks, Alistair Darling Michelle Di Leo, director of the aviation lobbying group Flying Matters,
admitted yesterday. In an extraordinary intervention, the Chancellor said said Mr Darling had ‘let the cat out of the bag on this flying stealth tax’.
the higher air passenger duty being introduced tomorrow was needed to She added, ‘Just when the economy needs all the help it can get, he is
plug gaps in the national finances. He made no attempt to justify the move imposing a tax which undermines job creation in the tourism sector, prices
- which will add GB£340 to the ticket for a family of four flying long haul ordinary families out of flying and all for absolutely no environmental
- on environmental grounds, the official reason for the tax…Addressing benefit. ‘When people realise how much this stealth tax will cost them and
journalists in Newcastle, home of the failed bank Northern Rock, Mr how much damage it is doing to the economy, any politician who commits
Darling said, ‘I am quite blunt about it, we need to raise money to pay for to scrapping it will get an electoral boost.’
some of the things we have done…
Australian tourism APD concerns
The Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) said that the new departure change debate is being used to disguise this protectionist departure tax in
tax arrangements were a retrograde development for the local inbound ‘greenwash’…Our local tourism industry, which employs nearly 500,000
tourism industry which is currently struggling from the effects of the people, can ill-afford additional taxes of this nature at this time. ATEC
global financial crisis. believes that this new charge will significantly impact travel to Australia
from the United Kingdom, and is a critical trade barrier between the UK
ATEC Managing Director Matt Hingerty said, “This APD is a total reversal and Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific.” Mr Hingerty also urged the
of the free trade rhetoric recently promoted by the G20 group of nations Australian Government to maintain its opposition to the APD and continue
as a measure to alleviate the current crisis…We believe that the climate to pressure the UK government to reverse its protectionist behaviour.
Emirates Airline Foundation projects in Abidjan and Chennai
On 28 September a team from Smile Train Italia consisting of 16 medical
volunteers travelled to Abidjan and provided almost 100 children with free
medical evaluations and reconstructive surgery. At the same time the team
trained local surgeons, anaesthesiologists and nurses.
On 20 October a new home opened, funded by the Emirates Airline
Foundation for abandoned HIV+ children in the Indian city of Chennai.
Replacing the rented villas previously used by a non-governmental
organisation, the Emirates-CHES Home has dormitories, a medical care
centre, an indoor recreation centre, a swimming pool and an education
centre. The foundation will also fund its running costs for the next
20 years.
7
From branch to business class
Deep in Italy’s agricultural heart, amongst Umbria’s rolling hills, is a 500- efficient aircraft, a 360° eco-efficient strategy can pay financial and
hectare olive oil farm and vineyard that has come to symbolise the greening environmental dividends. Other examples where Emirates is working with
of Emirates’ supply chain. Castello Monte Vibiano is a world-recognised suppliers to reduce, reuse and remove waste includes new lightweight,
premium olive oil and wine producer with a strong environmental bio-degradable aircraft carpets, removing unnecessary packaging from
conscience. Most famous for supplying Emirates with the small olive oil amenity kits, food and beverage supplies and introducing recycled and
bottles served at meal time in our premium cabins, Monte Vibiano is on reusable carry bags for passengers on our A380 aircraft.
track to be the world’s first carbon neutral farm with an extraordinary
commitment to quality and minimising its environmental footprint.
From electric vehicles to solar power and biofuels, Monte Vibiano has
revolutionised their business by combining commercial success with a
commitment to carbon neutrality and deep respect for their ancient land.
This supplier is one small but important example of the work being done
by many of our partners - at their instigation and with our encouragement
- to help make a large industrial procurer like Emirates improve all areas of
environmental impact.
As the CEO of Monte Vibiano, Lorenzo Fasola Bologna (pictured), says, “we
believe this multi-million-dollar investment in environmental technology
will be re-paid within five years.” Like Emirates’ investment in new, ultra-
Pure New Zealand - tourism and economic growth
New Zealand is a key part of Emirates’ global network. With 28 services a Index of international arrivals 2003 - 2009
week from Dubai and Australia’s east coast to Christchurch and Auckland,
Emirates is the only carrier operating to New Zealand from Europe, the
Middle East and Africa. Since launching services in August 2003, over
850,000 people have travelled on Emirates’ New Zealand services and have
carried 40,000 tonnes of New Zealand high-value exports.
Between May 2003 and May 2009, the number of overseas visitor
arrivals from the Middle East and North Africa grew by 7% every year,
outperforming New Zealand’s largest market, Australia, at 6%, and overall
overseas arrivals into New Zealand which sat at only 1%. Emirates four daily
services to New Zealand generate significant business and traffic from
markets not served by New Zealand’s flag carrier. The contribution this
makes to the New Zealand economy through the tourism market, which
generates over NZ$24 million in foreign exchange every day, should not
be underestimated.
Fast facts
• Aircraft in fleet 140 • Longest flight Dubai - Los Angeles (16 hours 35 minutes)
• Number of destinations (passenger and cargo) 101 • Shortest flight Muscat - Dubai (50 minutes)
• Passengers (2008) 24.5 million • First flight 25 October 1985
• Seat factor (2008) 78% • Employees (Airline) 28,518
• Cargo (2008) 1.4 million tonnes • Nationalities in workforce 152
©2010 Emirates. All rights reserved. January 2010
• Daily departures from Dubai International Airport 159 • Financials 08/09 (Airline) Revenue US$12 billion, Net profit US$268 million
Gothenburg
Glasgow Moscow
Newcastle
Hamburg
Manchester
Birmingham Amsterdam
London Dusseldorf
Frankfurt
Paris Munich
Zurich Vienna
Milan Venice
Toronto
Nice
Zaragoza Rome Tehran
Toledo Istanbul
New York Beijing
Beirut Damascus
San Francisco Tunis Athens Seoul
Malta Peshawar Amman
Larnaca Kabul Osaka
Los Angeles Casablanca Islamabad
Tripoli
Lahore Shanghai Kuwait
Cairo
©2009. Emirates. All rights reserved.
Delhi
Houston
Dubai Karachi Taipei
Dammam
Bahrain
Dubai
Sharjah
Ahmedabad Dhaka Riyadh
Guangzhou Doha
Kolkata Hong Kong
Muscat
Mumbai Jeddah
Graphic illustration only, not a complete representation or to scale. © 2009. Emirates. All rights reserved.
Hyderabad
Khartoum Manila
Bangalore Chennai Bangkok
Kozhikode
Addis Ababa Kochi
Thiruvananthapuram Colombo Sana’a
Abidjan Lagos
Accra Malé Kuala Lumpur
Entebbe Eldoret Singapore
Nairobi
Seychelles Jakarta
Dar es Salaam
Luanda
Lilongwe Route Map
Mauritius
November 2009
São Paulo
Johannesburg
Brisbane
Durban
Perth
Cape Town Sydney
Auckland
Melbourne
Christchurch
Andrew J Parker - Senior Vice President Public Affairs, International Affairs, Industry Will Löfberg - Manager Public and Government Affairs
Affairs, Environment Affairs. Email: andrew.parker@emirates.com Email: will.lofberg@emirates.coms or piiea@emirates.com 8
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