Emirates Airlines is going to launch non-stop service between Dallas / Fort Worth and Dubai February 2nd of 2012 using Boeing 777 aircraft and I’m a bit surprised. 

While this fits in with Emirates strategy to be a carrier for the world, I question whether or not the power of American Airlines has been fully considered.  Yes, Emirates has had quite a bit of success competing against other Oneworld alliance customers.  Yes, Emirates offers a world class service product.  No, Emirates is not a part of an alliance and the DFW area is a network hub for the entire region.

How do you compete against American Airlines who possesses a world class network in this region when you have no alliances or codeshares to provide feed from that same region at that same airport?  Furthermore, how do you compete against an airline with arguably one of the strongest frequent flyer programs known and in a city where the entire frequent flyer concept was invented?

I don’t think American Airlines will necessarily respond to this flight with flights of their own to that region.  They don’t need to.  Travelers from this area can get to any point they want in the world via American Airlines either non-stop or through connections as good or better than what Emirates can offer with the possible exception of the Middle East itself.

DFW isn’t really an oil region.  Yes, we have ExxonMobil here with their headquarters and even Halliburton.  Those are headquarters and not operations.  The ties that DFW has to the Middle East are tenuous at best.  The ties that DFW has to Africa are almost non-existent. 

Perhaps Emirates can succeed with a single flight per day.  However, that flight isn’t a real threat to AA or Oneworld.  for areas that do have ties to the DFW region, there are already better, direct flights on American or Oneworld partners.  Europe is well served.  India is well served.  The Far East is well served.  And you can fly QANTAS direct to Australia.

When Emirates started service to Houston, that made sense to me.  There are strong ties to areas between Houston and what Middle Eastern and African regions Emirates serves.  This one doesn’t have a very good argument on its behalf. 

Regardless, it will be fun to go to DFW airport and photograph an Emirates 777 landing.

Filed under: Airline News by ajax