Airlines in North America and Asia complained at an international conference in Malaysia that they are losing market share to airlines in the Middle East. The industry is experiencing its worst recorded slowdown and there have been accusations of predatory pricing and capacity dumping.
The regions carriers reject their competitor’s complaints and counter that by opening up untapped markets they are generating new demand. Chairman of Ace Aviation said at the IATA meeting that leading Middle Eastern airlines are building good services and entering the market with “a capital base that others would love”, but “My view is let them fly 100 times a day into Canada if they want, but only flying customers from Canada to Dubai and not connecting to virtually every other market on the planet.”
