They also bought plenty of A330s and A380s, and Europe has pretty much told them they do NOT get unlimited access. France and Germany limit them to a certain number of cities, no more. Etihad had to buy into Air Berlin to try to gain headway, but Air Berlin has to fly passengers to Abu Dhabi, to connect to Etihad, to the cities Etihad can't go to due to this restricitions. The problem is Emirates, Etihad, and Qatari have nothing to offer the other Governments, other than stealing marketshare away from their national airlines, that produce jobs in their countries. When Emirates wants to fly 4 A380s per day from one city to Dubai, those pax aren't all going to Dubai, and that hurts the National airline. Hence restrictions. Canada is the best example---3 flights a week, period. It will only take a matter of time when the US national airlines will go to their lobbyists, who will go to the Congressmen and say "put up some roadblocks". It's called Votes, and a few legacies in the US have a bunch more pull with "local" congressmen than Emirates has with Boeing. The Senator from West Virginia couldn't give a ratt's butt about Emirates, but he could throw in some legislation that could limit EXCESS competition.
Bye Bye---General Lee
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