The outlook for Middle East airlines in 2009 poised to shine: CAPA

Airlines in the Gulf region are extraordinarily well placed to be the beneficiaries of a prolonged economic downturn, said a Centre for Asia Pacific (CAPA) report. In fact, although they too will suffer some pain, the timing of this reversal could hardly have been better. They will emerge from difficult times with their global position greatly entrenched.

Strong networks and growing market access
This positive outlook is greatly helped by recent global market liberalisation. Previously, expansion opportunities were limited by restrictive access controls. Both Emirates and Etihad - and to a lesser extent, Qatar Airways - have now developed their networks to a level where they can effectively exploit opportunities much more effectively than they could have, say, three years ago. As a result they now enjoy an extensive permutation of new city pairs each time a gateway is added.

Many of the European routes they feed have previously been heavily protected by restrictive bilateral agreements which did not allow access by sixth freedom carriers like the Gulf airlines. This means that, as the key European gateways (and many smaller ones) are opened up,