Emirates Airline yesterday hit back at claims from the chief executive of Air Canada, saying that the carrier would not harm Canadian airports and airlines by expanding there.
“Emirates is confident our case for reasonable air access to Canada is overwhelmingly in the country’s national interest,” an airline spokesperson said.
Calin Rovinescu, CEO of Canada’s biggest airline accused Emirates of wanting to “flood” Canadian skies with airline seats so it can scoop up travellers and divert them through Dubai.
Such a move by the Dubai government-owned airline would be “severely damaging” to airports and airlines operating in Canada as it would steal away the connecting passengers they depend on to make their routes profitable “While its argument may be seductive, what Emirates’ strategy will do is constrain the growth of Canadian airports by turning them from hubs into stubs at the end of a spoke that leads only to Emirates’ hub in Dubai,” he said in a speech in Vancouver.
Emirates has been lobbying the Canadian government to allow it to expand its three-day-a-week Dubai-Toronto service. It also wants to fly to Calgary and Vancouver.
A study, commissioned by Emirates and released two weeks ago, said that Canada could reap economic benefits of $466 million a year and create 2,800 jobs if it was given more flying slots.
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