[FDOS_UK]

No it isn’t.

[PeterCoultas]

FDOS – assume your response means that you agree the M-E’s are not the best option on the block?…in which case we both agree…

[FDOS_UK]

You can assume whatever you want.

[cityprofessional]

@Peter

Name one airline either European or Asian, which can offer 3x daily one-stop connections between Birmingham and Kuala Lumpur – literally a choice of morning, noon and night. Or offer daily one stop flights from Newcastle to pretty much anywhere in India, South East Asia, China, Africa or Australasia

You may choose to believe Middle Eastern populations are “incompetent”, but at least someone in Dubai had the foresight to realise it is conveniently located halfway between US/Europe/Africa and Asia, and to exploit that position while giving the folk of Glasgow, Lyon and Bologna daily one stop connections to places that their national carriers could only dream of…

[BTMEEditor]

Good afternoon everyone,

Dubai Airports told me today that Concourse D is targeting a Feb 24 launch.

http://www.gulfbusiness.com/articles/country/united-arab-emirates/exclusive-dubai-airports-concourse-d-opening-date-revealed/

[AnthonyDunn]

@ cityprofessional – 15/02/2016 19:42 GMT

If watching the National Geographic television series on Dubai airport is anything to go by, whilst the projects (both DXB and EK) have had the full support of the local ruling family (and the associated financing), almost all the managerial expertise and delivery has been anything but locally sourced.

[FDOS_UK]

AnthonyDunn – 16/02/2016 14:13 GMT

Approximately 85% of UAE residents are foreign, so your observation (whilst true) is hardly surprising nor an indictment.

The sponsorship of the project is local.

[AnthonyDunn]

@ FDOS_UK – 16/02/2016 14:46 GMT

The sponsorship of the project is local.

Thanks for reiterating what I had already posted:

“…the projects (both DXB and EK) have had the full support of the local ruling family (and the associated financing)..” refers.

[Charles-P]

‘AnthonyDunn’ – you are quite right. I have been involved with military aspects of both airports for some years and the overwhelming expertise is indeed non Emirate in most cases. In their defence they are doing all they can to change this with sponsorship for those seeking to study disciplines such as engineering, medicine and law but regretfully too many locals are still looking for ‘soft’ government jobs in the civil service.

There has been some major changes in the Army and Air Force with a growing number choosing to continue in the military after their compulsory two years of service.

With such a small population compared to the needs of the country it will be like that for a long time.

[FDOS_UK]

AnthonyDunn – 16/02/2016 15:09 GMT

Project sponsorship is more than providing finance, although it also involves that. Effective executive sponsorship is one of the top critical success factors in delivering major programmes such as these.

[JohnHarper]

I would say the rise of the ME3 or ME4 if you count TK was a game changer for us business wise.

They opened up places that before were not easy to get to sometimes with mutliple connections or significant back tracks because the only way in was to use SQ, TG or CX and route back west after arriving at their hub.

Convenience coupled with competitve pricing and excellent service allowed us into markets we had only before dreamed of getting to.

The European major still do not provide serious competition to the ME3/4 and somehow I doubt they ever will.

[Poshgirl58]

Talking to an ex-colleague earlier who is working at DXB, I congratulated
him on the forthcoming Concourse D opening. He said it’s taken four years but he feels quite emotional and proud, although there is plenty of final account work to keep him and his team busy for a while. Then I suppose he will be starting on Concourse C.

Having lived close to BHX before going to Dubai via Qatar, he is also very pleased with the recent upgrade of the lunchtime EK flight to an A380.

[WillieWelsh]

EK, QR and TK flying from EDI have certainly improved my travel beyond any previous experience. Those three and LH & KL for anything international and easyJet for domestic make my life very easy indeed. I can be anywhere in the world in one stop and the range of destinations outstrips LHR by a huge margin.

Somewhere deep down I still miss British Midland and their amazing crews and ground staff at EDI but I certainly do not miss transits of LHR for a moment.

[canucklad]

I echo. WillieWelsh’s sentiments and mostly agree with everything said….

But,and it’s a big but……I firmly believe that as a nation (we’re not independent yet.) we require a strong robust carrier to fly the flag for UK plc. And it seems to me that they’re playing their fiddles at waterside, as well as the DTI…
Tehran being a classic example, The LH crane is already feathering it’s home nations nest by landing there first.

If EK has a sixth 380 departing LHR then one of only 2 things are happening. If you’re in the BA’s Ok dokee all is good camp you’ll also believe that “The field of dreams ” principle message is actually EK s business model. On the other hand it might occur to you that BA is about to potentially haemorrhage 1 million of its natural demographic customers to EK annually!

[FDOS_UK]

canucklad – 17/02/2016 23:40 GMT

I think it is a matter of semantics, to some degree.

When you hear names like British Gas, British Broadcasting Corporation, British Waterways, British Airways, there is a natural expectation that they will operate a service across the whole UK.

The reality was that British Airways became a private company in the 1980s and has chosen a market position that does not reflect the expectation that there is a consistent level of service across the whole UK. It is SE England focused.

It may be a very good strategy (and BA is part of an international group, so it’s purview is much broader than our small islands), but it doesn’t feel ‘British’ to some of us who live in the regions.

The UK operates a free market model and EK’s rise is a consequence of that.

Whether the freemarket model is the best for the country would take us into a highly political debate, which I would not wish to engage in 🙂

[Author]

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