Arab Air Carriers Organization Secretary General Abdul Wahab Teffaha yesterday directly challenged the Association of European Airlines Secretary General Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus’s assertion made earlier this year that Emirates Airline, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways represent a new kind of competitive threat that is incompatible with the existing world aviation order.
Speaking at an IAC luncheon yesterday, Teffaha countered that there "is nothing strange" about the way Arab airlines have grown and developed. our competitiveness does not stem from government subsidies. Our competitiveness starts with what technology and geography have let us do: Provide one-stop service to destinations around the world."
European airlines shouldn’t blame Arab competitors "if your cost base is too high" and customer service levels don’t match that of Arab airlines. Airline passengers "are not a charity and will not stick with you as an act of charity … Let customers decide what they want."
He argued that Europe itself has created a playing field "not so level" for non-European competitors. "The fact that slots at major European airports are in the control of dominant European carriers nullifies" liberalization created by open skies accords between the EU and many countries.
This of course does not meet the point in question – That of Export Credit assistance. We should therefore take these comments with plenty of salt, true though they may be they do not answer the points of January as Teffaha stated they did.