Comment
Wolves at the door
June 1st 2013
That the new global hubs of the Gulf and their government-owned carriers are attracting growing numbers of Asia-Pacific to Europe travellers is no surprise to anyone in our industry. Read More »
The data in this month’s main story shows the level of penetration they have achieved on traditional routes to and from the Asia-Pacific. The figures reveal the threat to the region’s operators is as great as has been predicted.
New analysis by IT major, Amadeus, reveals 15% of passenger traffic between the Asia-Pacific and Europe is now travelling through the three Gulf hubs of Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi.
Prospects for passenger volumes to rise are high. While overall traffic between the region and Europe is growing at 7% annually, traffic routed through the Middle East increased 20% last year.
In March alone passengers travelling through Dubai from the Asia-Pacific rose 26.5%. Not only has traffic through these Gulf hubs been expanding at a record rate since the beginning of the year, following record numbers in 2012, United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorities and others in the Middle East are preparing for a continued onslaught.
In the UAE, Dubai is spending more than US$15.8 billion on two airports. It has already spent more than $5.4 billion on Dubai International Airport in the last 15 years.
Abu Dhabi is investing $6.8 billion on the redevelopment of Abu Dhabi International Airport. Qatar is spending $11.1 billion on developing its new hub airport at Doha. Elsewhere, in locations such as Saudi Arabia, Sharjah, Muscat and Bahrain, another $5 billion is being spent on airport development.
In the next decade and beyond, these hubs will be looking to fill their parking bays with an increasing amount of Asia-Pacific sourced aircraft. And they will not only be bound for Europe, but for North America and Africa.
Asia-Pacific airports are spending money on development, but the investment pales into insignificance compared with the Arab spending splurge.
The threat is clear. While everyone wants liberalized skies, and despite the growth forecasts for the Asia-Pacific, both airlines and their governments face an enormous challenge in managing the demand from airlines outside our region for access to the world’s largest aviation market.
They will need to carefully consider how much they are prepared to give away to their home carriers’ competitors.
