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Like U.S. Carriers, Etihad Partner Alitalia Isn't Happy About Emirates' Milan-JFK Flight
It’s not just the big three U.S. carriers who think that Emirates’ Milan-JFK flight is a problem.
Alitalia thinks so too, which is significant because Etihad Airways owns 49% of the Italian flag carrier.
“Alitalia does not support the allocation of fifth freedom rights,” said an Alitalia spokesman. “In such a case the market should be served by Alitalia – or any interested European carrier – in conjunction with its American partners.”
Fifth freedom rights enable an airline to offer flights that originate in its home country, continue to a second country, take on passengers, and then continue to a third country.
In a speech Tuesday at the Chamber of Commerce Foundation aviation summit in Washington, Etihad CEO James Hogan explained at least some of the thinking behind Alitalia’s statement. Discussing the three Gulf carriers, Hogan declared: “We are separate. We are very different. We each have our own business model, our own strategy and our own issues.
“We don’t work together,” Hogan said. “We don’t lobby together. My fiercest competitor is Emirates. Behind them is Qatar.”
Emirates started Milan-JFK service on Oct. 1, 2013. At the time, the route already had four daily non-stop flights by Alitalia, American, Delta and United (to Newark). One sign of Emirates’ out-sized ambitions: On June 1, it will put an Airbus A380, which seats nearly 500 passengers, on the route, replacing a Boeing BA -1.04% 777-300ER with 360 seats.
The flight from Milan’s Malpensa Airport (MXP) to New York’s Kennedy International Airport is at the heart of the battle between the big three U.S. carriers and the three Gulf carriers.
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http://www.forbes.com/sites/tedreed...a-isnt-happy-about-emirates-milan-jfk-flight/