Emirates and Eithad debut in Tokyo and BA goes on strike again
Posted on 29 March 2010 with no comments from readers
When the history of aviation is written in future years time this week will be remembered as the one in which Emirates Airline and Etihad opened their first-ever flights to Tokyo while British Airway cabin staff went on strike for a second time.
Cabin crew from Lufthansa and Alitalia are also planning strike action as the legacy carriers from Europe embark on what any business observer would have to acknowledge as suicide during the worst global economic downturn since the 1930s.
Tokyo debut
Abu Dhabi’s airline Etihad will operate five non-stop flights to Tokyo a week. The maiden Etihad flight arrived a day ahead of Dubai’s Emirates first flight into Tokyo’s Narita airport that will also offer five flights per week.
Direct flights from the two major cities of the UAE to Japan means the start of a whole new hub service for the Japanese capital routed through the UAE. There is also the associated prestige and publicity attendant on direct flight services.
Trade and trading relationships between the UAE and the world’s second largest economy are strong with $29 billion in trade annually. There are some 350 Japanese companies and 3,500 Japanese expatriates living in the UAE which is a hub for multinational distribution in the region.
Both airlines are also hoping to attract more high-spending Japanese tourists to visit Dubai and Abu Dhabi that have an impressive inventory of new luxury hotels and shopping malls as well as new cultural attractions.
What a contrast with the European airlines whose staff see themselves as royalty flying the world to indulge in long-stop overs with their friends also flown in at subsidized rates.
Younger staff
The future clearly lies with the Gulf carriers with more market orientated employment policies. That means giving young staff short contracts, and investing in modern aircraft rather than staff perks.
It also means getting on with expanding the airlines across the globe and not allowing customers to be upset by strike action by cabin staff who seem to have forgotten that they are only their to serve the airline and not vice-versa.
European legacy airlines have a tough enough job ahead of them competing in a globalized aviation market without their staff stabbing them in the back.
