Qatar Air formally responds to US carriers' subsidy claims
BTN News
Friday, 31 July 2015
Gulf carrier Qatar Airways has delivered a white paper to the US government refuting allegations it has received significant 'home' government subsidies that give it an advantage when competing in the US with American, Delta and United Airlines (the 'Big 3').
It says its flights do not harm any US carrier and it does not compete against any US airline on non-stop routes. It also serves cities that have never featured on US carrier networks.
Qatar ceo Akbar Al Baker said: “We are concerned to see the Big 3 seek to change the rules of the game ... and the US government should reject calls to freeze the US-Qatar Open Skies Agreement."
Meanwhile, the US Partnership for Open & Fair Skies (a coalition including the Big 3) has released a new report continuing the campaign against Gulf airlines.
Written by Aaron Klein, a former deputy assistant secretary for economic policy within the US Treasury, the report sees “clear parallels from the decline of the domestic shipbuilding industry to the present-day trade dispute with the subsidised carriers”.
The Partnership insists that Qatar, Emirates and Etihad all received more than US$42 billion in “subsidies and other unfair benefits from their government owners in the past decade, in violation of Open Skies agreements”.
Qatar Air formally responds to US carriers' subsidy claims
BTN News
Friday, 31 July 2015
Gulf carrier Qatar Airways has delivered a white paper to the US government refuting allegations it has received significant 'home' government subsidies that give it an advantage when competing in the US with American, Delta and United Airlines (the 'Big 3').
It says its flights do not harm any US carrier and it does not compete against any US airline on non-stop routes. It also serves cities that have never featured on US carrier networks.
Qatar ceo Akbar Al Baker said: “We are concerned to see the Big 3 seek to change the rules of the game ... and the US government should reject calls to freeze the US-Qatar Open Skies Agreement."
Meanwhile, the US Partnership for Open & Fair Skies (a coalition including the Big 3) has released a new report continuing the campaign against Gulf airlines.
Written by Aaron Klein, a former deputy assistant secretary for economic policy within the US Treasury, the report sees “clear parallels from the decline of the domestic shipbuilding industry to the present-day trade dispute with the subsidised carriers”.
The Partnership insists that Qatar, Emirates and Etihad all received more than US$42 billion in “subsidies and other unfair benefits from their government owners in the past decade, in violation of Open Skies agreements”.
