Study backing Gulf carrier benefits to US called a 'fake'

BTN News
Monday, 19 June 2017
The debate over Gulf carrier access to the US market is back on the table, with new research claiming Etihad, Emirates and Qatar Air delivered more than US$7.8 billion of tourist spending in the country last year.
Anti-Gulf airline lobbyists immediately dismissed the findings as "fake".
 
The US Travel Association study of 14 US cities served by Gulf carrier flights found that in 2016, the three carriers brought nearly 1.7 million additional visitors to the US and those visitors spent nearly US$7.8 billion during their trips. That spending supported nearly 80,000 additional US jobs, the research said.
 
The study was released amid the ongoing campaign by the three largest US carriers – United, Delta and American Airlines – calling on the US government to freeze 'Open Skies' agreements with the UAE and Qatar to prevent them from “unfair” expansion in the US.
 
The USTA says a freeze on Gulf carrier flights requested by the ‘Big Three’ US carriers in 2015 would have resulted in the loss of 2,650 US jobs in 2015 and 4,400 jobs in 2016.
 
USTA president and ceo Roger Dow said: “Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways fly to the US from previously under-served routes around the world.
 
“International travellers are a proven boon to US jobs, exports, tax revenues and economic growth, so the federal government should be doing everything it can to bolster connectivity.
 
“Every city with a Gulf carrier flight is a positive for passengers and for local economies. End of story.”
 
However, Big Three lobby group the Partnership for Open & Fair Skies called the US Travel Association’s data “fake”.
 
It said that following the most recent entry by a Gulf carrier into a market, passenger bookings for international itineraries on US carriers and their joint venture partners declined and that for every international route cancelled due to subsidy-backed Gulf carrier expansion, 1,500 Americans lose their jobs.
 
Jill Zuckman, spokesperson for the Partnership for Open & Fair Skies said: “US Travel’s fake claims are based on false assumptions that ignore the fact that the Gulf carriers aren’t creating new passenger demand. Massive government subsidies allow the Gulf carriers to flood the US markets and undermine fair competition.
 
“The US Travel Association is fighting for Middle Eastern jobs at the expense of more than a million American jobs supported by the US aviation industry.”
 
The Gulf carriers deny allegations that they are subsidised.

Study backing Gulf carrier benefits to US called a 'fake'

BTN News
Monday, 19 June 2017
The debate over Gulf carrier access to the US market is back on the table, with new research claiming Etihad, Emirates and Qatar Air delivered more than US$7.8 billion of tourist spending in the country last year.
Anti-Gulf airline lobbyists immediately dismissed the findings as "fake".
 
The US Travel Association study of 14 US cities served by Gulf carrier flights found that in 2016, the three carriers brought nearly 1.7 million additional visitors to the US and those visitors spent nearly US$7.8 billion during their trips. That spending supported nearly 80,000 additional US jobs, the research said.
 
The study was released amid the ongoing campaign by the three largest US carriers – United, Delta and American Airlines – calling on the US government to freeze 'Open Skies' agreements with the UAE and Qatar to prevent them from “unfair” expansion in the US.
 
The USTA says a freeze on Gulf carrier flights requested by the ‘Big Three’ US carriers in 2015 would have resulted in the loss of 2,650 US jobs in 2015 and 4,400 jobs in 2016.
 
USTA president and ceo Roger Dow said: “Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways fly to the US from previously under-served routes around the world.
 
“International travellers are a proven boon to US jobs, exports, tax revenues and economic growth, so the federal government should be doing everything it can to bolster connectivity.
 
“Every city with a Gulf carrier flight is a positive for passengers and for local economies. End of story.”
 
However, Big Three lobby group the Partnership for Open & Fair Skies called the US Travel Association’s data “fake”.
 
It said that following the most recent entry by a Gulf carrier into a market, passenger bookings for international itineraries on US carriers and their joint venture partners declined and that for every international route cancelled due to subsidy-backed Gulf carrier expansion, 1,500 Americans lose their jobs.
 
Jill Zuckman, spokesperson for the Partnership for Open & Fair Skies said: “US Travel’s fake claims are based on false assumptions that ignore the fact that the Gulf carriers aren’t creating new passenger demand. Massive government subsidies allow the Gulf carriers to flood the US markets and undermine fair competition.
 
“The US Travel Association is fighting for Middle Eastern jobs at the expense of more than a million American jobs supported by the US aviation industry.”
 
The Gulf carriers deny allegations that they are subsidised.