James Hogan chief executive of Etihad has retorted to Qantas's boss, Alan Joyce’s complaints that foreign airlines are flooding the market with capacity that the airline should focus on its own business instead of complaining about the threats posed by Middle Eastern and Chinese airlines.
Joyce has warned over the viability of its full-service international operations without a change of direction due to the increased competition.
Hogan said foreign airlines were ''simply taking existing demand'' and airlines such as Emirates and Etihad had opened up new markets in Europe, India and the Middle East.
He said: “They should get back and fight and let the customer decide who wins. I can't sit here and complain about capacity and people moving into my market.''
Neither Etihad nor Emirates will be seeking additional air rights during the next round of bilateral negotiations with Australia because they say they have adequate capacity for the next two years. However, Etihad was rebuffed by the federal government last year after it lobbied for a ''reasonable'' increase in the number of flights to Australia from its cap of 84 a week. Last year Etihad was awarded seven additional flights a week to Australia.