Gulf airlines’ spending spree looks a bold gamble

Gulf airlines’ spending spree looks a bold gamble

Fuel prices up, passenger numbers down, says airline industry association. Here’s hoping someone got it right at Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways.

September 4, 2008 12:51 by kippreport

So, you’re the person who decided to sign off $X billion on a fleet of shiny new Airbus and Boeings. And now the International Air Transport Association has come out with a report saying the airline industry will lose $5.bn this year and $4.1bn next. I hope you have a well prepared argument to give to colleagues as to why this round of record-breaking purchases makes sense.
Good luck next year.

Tags: airbus, airlines, boeing, Gulf, IATA, losses, Money

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1 Comment

Delwyn on September 7, 2008 10:57 am

Well, i would believe losses to hold true for developed economies more but not so much for marktes like UAE, Qatar. Why? Its pretty simple. Both UAE & Qatar markets have govt owned airlines which are invariably driven by business that comes from 2 distinct streams :-

1) The growing number of expats travelling here on work/holiday AND
2) The huge business that these airlines get from the “corporate” sector who provide their employees paid-for annual tickets.

As long as these countries GDP & net arrivals keep growing, so will their airlines & their trillion dollar aircraft purchases.

Voila!!!!