Etihad Airways joining Oneworld?

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  • Anonymous
    Guest

    KSHaggag
    Participant

    Gentlemen,

    Am I the only person ( closely following up on what s going on in the Airline Industry ) who noticed that all the Etihad Airways strategy recently has been showing relentless signs of the airline closing ties with most Oneworld carriers so far???…Let me just list the following in an attempt to draw your attention …
    1-EY initiating partnerships ( SPA ,code shares and FFP reciprocity ) with American Airlines .
    2-EY closing deals with S7 .
    3-EY raising its stake of acquisition in Air Berlin ( future Oneworld member ) to 30 % almost with all the consequences of such an action e.g. code shares ,FFP partnerships going to the extent of accummulating status miles when you fly on Air Berlin .
    4-The shuttle service from Berlin and Dusseldorf to Abu Dhabi.
    5-EY closing deals with future Oneworld member Malaysia Airlines .
    6-EY coming to the rescue of Kingfisher who was supposed to join Oneworld shortly but will not until it sorts its financial issues out .
    Plus many more steps undertaken that I do not recall now …

    Do wealthy Gulf based carriers like EY need to be in an Alliance?? is EY a perfect match for Oneworld eventually?…


    transtraxman
    Participant

    Take into consideration that Etihad is looking for investment opportunities in airlines all over the world.

    “Etihad Could Invest In Virgin Australia” (24 January 2012) (Airwise)

    http://news.airwise.com/story/view/1327444537.html

    “Etihad Airways Buys Into Air Seychelles” (25 January 2012) (Airwise)

    http://news.airwise.com/story/view/1327527924.html

    “Etihad Interested In Aer Lingus Talks” (10 February 2012) (Airwise)

    http://news.airwise.com/story/view/1328873573.html


    KSHaggag
    Participant

    Yep..but Virgin Australia and Aer Lingus ( ex Oneworld !!! ha ha ) are just attempts or intentions ..


    JohnPhelanAustralia
    Participant

    In the past year, Etihad has begun a major route-sharing arrangement with Virgin Australia on the kangaroo route between the UK and Australia. In fact, almost all of Virgin Australia’s European network is dependent on Etihad! (The one exception is the daily Virgin Atlantic service via Hong Kong).

    It would cause enormous difficulties for Virgin Australia if Etihad went to oneworld. And given that this is comparatively recent, I would be certain that Virgin obtained a binding guarantee from Etihad that it would not be joining oneworld.

    In general, the Middle Eastern airlines seem to do quite well without being in alliances; their geographic position seems to mean that global alliances are really not necessary for them and they just pick and choose particular partners in a few far-flung markets.


    KSHaggag
    Participant

    Hi JohnPhelan !

    Yep….I do agree with you and see it more logical that GCC based carriers keep out of the main Alliances at least for some time to come …


    christopheL
    Participant

    Hi everybody,

    As a “poor lonesome” French traveller, let me tell you that on that side of the Channel, it is said that Skyteam founder Air france/KLM is to sign a codeshare/FFP agreement with Etihad (Alitalia, another Skyteam member, is already linked to Etihad with such an agreement).

    http://lexpansion.lexpress.fr/entreprise/air-france-et-etihad-airways-vont-conclure-une-alliance_283823.html

    However, we don’t expect Etihad to join Skyteam in a near future


    StephenLondon
    Participant

    Given the aggressive expansion rates for several of the Gulf carriers, why would Oneworld want someone like EY to join? They would do nothing but pinch traffic away from carriers on the Kangaroo Route, for example, or on lucrative Europe – Gulf/India routes.

    I can’t see this happening.


    KSHaggag
    Participant

    Salut Christophe and Stephen !

    Ouiiiiiiiiii….This is just one example of cooperation with Skyteam however what I meant was that it looked a bit eye catching to see EY closing deals with almost all Oneworld members although I am convinced such an airline would add nothing to the Alliance as you stipulated ..
    Hey..let s think about lounge access at the Air Berlin hub at the new Berlin airport to open in June for EY passengers ….will they have access to the AB lounge ?…at the same time ,Oneworld fellow members customers will obviously have access to the AB lounge ( as a fully fledged member of the alliance ) ….will EY envisage having its own lounge there or better leverage the synergies of its acquisition of AB and use its facilities ???..food for thought !..thanks !


    cityprofessional
    Participant

    Yup, Etihad totally doing deals with all of OW. What, you mean like dumping a comprehensive codeshare with Qantas in favour of Virgin Australia?

    Etihad has got codeshares with multiple members of multiple alliances (e.g. Brussels Airlines, TAP, bmi and NZ in Star, in case it was feeling left out) as well as plenty of non-aligned carriers, and doesn’t look like it’s about to join any of them


    KSHaggag
    Participant

    Great !!!!…voice of wisdom !…thanks !


    RichHI1
    Participant

    I feel there is some very boxed in thinking going on. There was a time when people said AA and BA would never work togehter as they competed head to head across the atlantic. Yet now we have a Joint Business Agreement and both are benefiting. I do not think ti is unlikely that the Middle Eastern carrriers could enter into such Joint Business with other carriers to similar mutual advantage. The rise of extra longhaul aircraft will change the dynamic. Dor example if you can fly non stop LHR – SYD or GRU-NRT it will become harder for airlines who have a mid point base. Equally it will open up opportunities for them as many routes from the Middle East require extra long haul aircraft e.g. LAX, SYD,EZE etc.


    Tete_de_cuvee
    Participant

    Code sharing in the past has been based on mutual access to ones home market. The home markets for each of the major mid-east carriers is fairly negligible though.

    Whilst the customer would certainly be a winner as it could be the catalyst for the legacy carriers to raise their game, it is good for competition, keeps prices keen especially in the premium classes and the product is mostly very good.

    However I reckon the legacy carriers would not want to risk entering agreements where it is likely to be one-way traffic.

    Good informative post JPA.


    RichHI1
    Participant

    Take your point Tête_de_cuvée. I guess it depends how much of a grwoth market the Middle East is over next few years. Certainly Latin America and Asia are going to be key. My knowledge of the Middle Eastern market is very sketchy though.
    My thinking was say BA want higher coverage to Asian second and third tier cities and have equipment and slot restrictions at LHR then flying into a Middle Eastern hub to allow flights into these smaller cities with one aligned connection would stop traffic hemorrhaging (EDIT UK Spelling haemorrhaging – sorry forgot) to euro carriers such as LH or KL.


    KSHaggag
    Participant

    Gentlemen,

    If you can recall 20 and more years ago ,legacy carriers like KLM ,Swissair ,Air France ,BA ,etc used to fly from their respective hubs in Europe to Asia ,the Far East ,South America ,etc via a multitude of Middle Eastern points with FULL traffic rights .I can recall here KLM notably which had established some sort of a hub in Dubai connecting it to Athens ,Bangkok,Singapore ,Jakarta ,Vienna ,Hong Kong ,Taipei ,Manila and Tokyo among others enjoying a huge presence in those areas and (owning ) lucrative traffic rights ..moreover KLM used to fly from Amsterdam to Rio and onwards via Lisbon with full traffic rights and to Freetown via Casablanca and Kano via Tunis ,etc etc etc …Swissair had a well established hub in Bombay linking it to Bangkok,Hong Kong ,Seoul ,Tokyo ,etc….these 2 carriers were notable players in an arena that today seems and is indeed gone with the wind …GONE are those days of glory for European carriers and the birth of the new players like EK,EY,QR ,etc will make sure those european airlines change roles on a global basis …..c est la vie !

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