Gulf airlines
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Gulf airlines are airlines based in countries around the Persian Gulf. Since the establishment of especially Emirates, Qatar Airways, and Etihad Airways, the three airports in Dubai, Doha, and Abu Dhabi, have emerged as hubs and competitors to established airlines in Europe, North America, and Asia. Particularly on routes from Europe to East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Australia, as well as from North America to Asia, new and often attractive offers for air travelers have been introduced. These airlines are characterized by improved onboard services and lower ticket prices.
The offerings of Gulf airlines have significantly reduced the available capacities, especially for major aviation companies like Lufthansa, International Airlines Group, and Air France–KLM in Europe, as well as for Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, and Malaysia Airlines in Asia, between both continents. In contrast, Gulf airlines have experienced substantial growth over the past two decades. Meanwhile, the competition for passengers has also extended to North America.
For example, in recent years, the German airline Lufthansa had to permanently remove around 20 flight destinations in the Near and Far East from its offerings due to tougher competition towards Asia. Some of the affected destinations include Karachi, Tashkent, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Busan, Guangzhou, Jakarta, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Denpasar, and Abu Dhabi.[1]
In addition, Istanbul with Turkish Airlines and Addis Ababa with Ethiopian Airlines have also established themselves as key players near the hubs of Gulf airlines.