Articles tagged “open skies”

Air India has been upgrading its fleet and investing heavily in new planes. An increase in grants under bilateral agreements to Middle East carriers threatens Indian carriers' share in carrying passengers to long-haul destinations, leading to a lower return on investment.

IndiGo, a low-cost carrier known for its no-frills approach, is ambitiously venturing into what seems like long-haul flights and introducing business-class seats. The move aims to target a new generation of travelers while adapting to India's evolving aviation market.

As he retires, Tim Clark will be celebrated as an aviation visionary. He deserves all the credit. But Emirates is slowly losing many of its competitive advantages.

The three largest U.S. carriers say Air Italy competes unfairly. But it is highly unlikely the airline is breaking any U.S. or EU laws. If the U.S. airlines want to break Air Italy, they'll have to do it the old-fashioned way — through ruthless competition.

United Airlines supports a trade group that rails against almost everything Qatar Airways does. But this summer, United will put its customers on Qatar Airways jets to fly across the Atlantic. This is interesting, right?

A long-simmering fight over Open Skies is boiling over again and is dividing the U.S. airline industry. The U.S. major carriers say Air Italy is a Trojan horse for Qatar Airways to expand in the U.S. JetBlue and the cargo carriers argue changing the rules of the game now would invite retaliation.

Remember when the Trump administration suggested in May it had solved the ongoing dispute between U.S. and Gulf carriers? Hah. American Airlines CEO Doug Parker is already complaining one competitor is ignoring the spirit of the agreement.

Folks in Pittsburgh would probably love a nonstop flight to Dubai. But will they get it? It seems unlikely, even if Emirates CEO Tim Clark said the airline would consider flights from smaller U.S. cities.

It's funny. Fifth Freedom flights — those are routes where an airline flies from a place other than its home country — account for roughly 1 percent of Emirates' capacity, according to the airline's president. And Emirates has only two such routes to the United States. But it's a hot topic among airline insiders, and it doesn't sound like that will change.