New study refutes Emirates claim of increasing traffic at DFW

The entry of Emirates Airline at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport did not get more passengers to fly from North Texas to the Middle East, India and Africa, a new study says.

Instead, in the first year of Emirates service at DFW in 2012, bookings to these far flung destinations dropped 7.6 percent, says the study from Partnership for Open & Fair Skies. The industry lobbying group, supported by American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, filed a brief with the U.S. Department of Transportation on Monday that included the new study.

"The data clearly shows that in Dallas-Fort Worth, the Gulf carriers are causing serious harm and diverting passengers from U.S. airlines," said spokeswoman Jill Zuckman. "U.S. carriers and their JV partners have seen sharp declines in bookings to the destinations served by the Gulf carriers after they enter these markets -- a direct threat to the tens of thousands of jobs that support the Dallas-Fort Worth economy."

When Emirates entered Seattle, bookings to India, Africa and the Middle East on U.S. airlines and their joint venture partners dropped 21.4 percent and in Washington D.C., 14.3 percent, the study says.

The three major U.S. carriers have accused the Persian Gulf airlines - Emirates Airline, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways - of receiving billions in government subsidies, violating Open Skies agreements the U.S. has with the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. The DOT has opened an investigation into the allegations.

In its own filings made to the DOT last month, Emirates argued that its entry into U.S. markets has attracted new travelers to international routes.

"Emirates' entry has grown the pie: enhanced levels of service have attracted new travelers to routes, allowing Emirates to grow without significantly diverting passengers from the Legacy Carriers," the Emirates filing said. "Americans can now fly with only one stop to cities such as Islamabad, Pakistan and Colombo, Sri Lanka, options that simply did not exist previously. That has attracted new travelers into the marketplace."

The data in the new study provided by Partnership for Open & Fair Skies only includes bookings that were originating from Dallas/Fort Worth and traveling to the Middle East, India, and Africa. It did not include travelers who may have connected through DFW on to those destinations such as flying from Austin to DFW to Dubai.

According to traffic statistics from DFW Airport, Emirates carried 158,784 passengers in 2012, representing over half of the new international passenger growth at DFW Airport that calendar year. That same year, American Airlines increased its passenger traffic by 0.2 percent for both domestic and international flights.

Source: New study refutes Emirates claim of increasing traffic at DFW