Emirates 777 at YUL. Photograph courtesy of Youri Thonon – Contrails Photography
It must be ever so inconvenient for Emirates to have to deal with Transport Canada in trying to secure additional landing rights to Canadian airports. At its home base in Dubai most anything the carrier needs is quickly afforded to it by the government of Dubai, often by royal decree. The capacity the carrier currently enjoys between YYZ and DXB – 1467 seats per week in each direction – is more than adequate to serve the needs of passengers originating in the two cities. Though they would tell you otherwise, EK wants access to Canada to capture traffic that would connect via Dubai to its broader network. Of particular interest to EK is traffic destined for South Asia, East Africa and the Middle East.
The Canada-U.A.E. Air Transport Agreement allows Emirati carriers six flights a week into Canada. Instead of capitalizing on these frequencies at the time that agreement was signed, Emirates presumptuously opted to wait until daily landing rights were made available. Contemporaneously Emirates’ enterprising compatriots at Etihad launched a thrice weekly service between Abu Dhabi and Toronto, carving out their niche in the Canadian aviation landscape. If EK now find themselves locked out of the lucrative Toronto market with only half the capacity they seek, they really have only themselves to blame.
As many of you know EK does not take things lying down and this will be no exception. They are now applying pressure to get Transport Canada to see the(ir) light. On their own website they have a section detailing the importance of trade relations between Canada and the U.A.E. and also have a section stressing that AC will not be impacted by further EK frequencies. Hopefully some enterprising Canadian employee at EK will let Tim Clark know that the Government of Canada is known to drag its heels. Best look elsewhere in the interim Tim.
