US-bound passengers departing from, or transitting through, Abu Dhabi (AUH) will have to continue queuing on arrival at US Customs and Immigration like everyone else.
Abu Dhabi had hoped that the US government would grant it pre-clearance screening such as exists at airports in Canada or Ireland.
It means that US-bound passengers would clear formalities before departing Abu Dhabi. They would therefore arrive in New York, Chicago or Washington DC (the three US cities served by Etihad) as domestic passengers so would be able to leave the airport immediately.
But fearing this would provide Etihad with a competitive advantage, reports in Aviation Week and the Washington Post reveal the move has drawn protests from trade and industry bodies in the US and Europe.
Now the US House of Representatives has passed an amendment to block the pre-clearance facility.
No US airline currently serves Abu Dhabi so US carriers have nothing to gain from pre-clearance.
While the European carriers (who used to virtually monopolise travel between India and the US via the likes of London, Frankfurt and Paris – see our "New World Order" feature, December 2010) have already seen thousands of Indian passengers defect to Gulf carriers like Etihad.
The national European carriers fear traffic losses (via the Gulf) would accelerate because of the benefits offered by US pre-clearance.
Around 75 per cent of Indian passengers flying Etihad into Abu Dhabi are transferring there for onward destinations according to the Business Standard.
Instead of pre-clearance, organisations like A4A (Airlines for America) and Brussels-based AEA (Association of European Airlines) feel the US authorities should concentrate more on improving existing arrival facilities to alleviate delays at peak periods.
But ALPA (Airline Pilots Association) put it more bluntly. In a letter sent by president Lee Moak, it said: "The proposed pre-clearance site in Abu Dhabi unfairly benefits the state-sponsored air carrier of the UAE, Etihad Airways, at the expense of our US airlines and therefore US jobs. We urge Congress to stand up for the US airline industry and support this common sense amendment."
Alex McWhirter
