The US State Department plans to discuss alleged state subsidies given to Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways with the respective governments, Bloomberg reported citing insider sources.
American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines have long been accusing the Gulf carriers of unfair competition based on the multi-billion dollars state subsidies they allegedly would get. According to the Partnership for Open & Fair Skies, an initiative backed up by the American carriers, Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways would have received in total USD52 billion of subsidies and other "unfair benefits" since 2004. Those benefits allegedly allow the Middle Eastern carriers to offer cheaper fares to passengers travelling to and from the US.
The Gulf carriers deny those allegations.
The State Department will seek commitments to financial transparency from the governments of the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. All three major Gulf carriers are state-owned.
According to Bloomberg, US diplomats also want to discuss the fifth freedom services operated by the Gulf airlines from their bases to the US with a commercial stop. Emirates is currently the only one of the three using fifth freedom rights on routes from Dubai International via Milan Malpensa to New York JFK and via Athens to New York Newark.
According to the ch-aviation capacity module, Emirates currently offers 103x weekly flights on thirteen routes to the United States, including two fifth freedom services, Qatar Airways flies 77x weekly from Doha Hamad International to ten destinations in the US, while Etihad Airways flies 42x weekly from Abu Dhabi International to five destinations in the US. No American airline flies either to Qatar or to the UAE.
