Wow, now here’s a fascinating rumor I hadn’t heard before. Finance blog Zero Hedge suggests that Emirates Airline is planning on buying a controlling stake in Qatar Airways:
Continue reading: Rumor: Emirates Airline To Buy A Controlling Stake In Qatar Airways
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Zero Hedge... not exactly a paragon of good reporting. Emirates would have to be batshit insane to do this.
The A380 is not an efficient plane to fly when it is 50% full. Don't see how you think Emirates is doing so well financially. Sure they may be turning a profit but you're making it sound like they're rolling in margin. No way they are with the amount of A380s they fly and how empty many of the routes are.
This sounds ridiculous. As much as EK and EY are rivals, the Abu Dhabi and Dubai governments are still part of the UAE (indeed Dubai is subordinate to the powers in Abu Dhabi). And the UAE and Qatar governments have some pretty healthy rivalries of their own. EK is profitable, and is more or less run as a typical business. QR is not run like a business entity at all. It is exists as part of a broader Qatari government strategy to develop commercial opportunities in Qatar, largely at the expense of the UAE, and Dubai in particular.
Gonna call BS on this one. Can't see the upside. Second hub close by would be crazy especially with second Dubai airport coming. Can see the Qatari royal family being into this I'm sure they'd find Saudi money before Emirati.
That said I'm no expert and crazier things have happened.
Just for the record, the Abu Dhabi Government which owns Etihad also has a considerable stake in Emirates which they got for bailing Dubai out during the recession.
Yeah I dont see this happening. EK and QR are fierce rivals and compete connecting pax between many of the same destination pairs. Why would them working together benefit either? Any market share QR can gain by being streamlined/run more efficiently by a successful stakeholder will be taking market share away from rivals, namely EY and EK!
A "controlling stake" by a foreign entity would violate the "substantial ownership and effective control" clause in most Bilateral Air Services Agreements that Qatar has signed, which would then eliminate Qatar Airways' ability to service those destinations. Qatar Airways has actually been one of the major proponents of maintaining this clause in most BASAs they negotiate (as well as other more restrictive clauses such as tariff approvals, multiple designation, etc...), mainly as a protectionist measure.
I can imagine that AA could benefit with such a an acquisition being both QA and AA part of One World but I agree with Alex and take his skepticism to the next level: this simply isn't going to happen. Maybe some exec in EK has advanced some ideas and this developed into rumor, but Emirates is a huge organization with over 62,000 employees, so with hundreds of executives. Such an operation would require the consent of Dubai's ruling family and also Qatar's rulers and politically I have strong doubt of such a decision, mainly for geopolitical reasons.
I think I heard his excellency one time in a video saying he would like to work or merge with emirates.
It may not be as silly as it seems then.
At first I was skeptical of it but then when I recall Virgin starting with Virgin Atlantic and branching into Virgin American, Virgin Australia and then you have Air Asia X also doing the same and now having Air Asia Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, India.
It made me wonder if Emirates wants to go for an "Emirates Qatar"?
Or, I kind of like the sound of "Emirates Q".
Quite plausible.
For anyone not into finance, Zerohedge is great for daily conspiracy theories and accurately predicting 10 of the last three recessions. They do get legitimate "scoops" now and then, but so does the national enquirer. I wouldn't hold my breath.
Why do you keep posting rumors?
This doesn't seem particularly professional. I can't imagine trusting you with actual business.
I'm all for less consolidation in the industry. We've seen how mergers have screwed up the system in the US. We don't need that to be duplicated anywhere else.
Dubai is a debt based economy, even government cannot print money, they have to borrow. UAE and Qatar governments have lot more funding sources. So the downward risk is higher for EK than EY (or) QR.
Most likely consolidation scenario, EK merges with EY. James Hogan will be CEO and Tim Clark will go home.
Bullshit. Will never ever happen. EK and QR are strategic national assets and sources of soft power and There is absolutly no way one government will let the other control its own airline and dictate how it is run.
Strategic partnership though? Yeah could be the case but unlikely.
What utter tosh, who on earth in their right minds would swallow this bullshit?
Never going to happen.
Qatar would buy Emirates before it happened the other way round.
I fly both of them all the time and I wish they would. Emirates is ten times the airline QR ever is or will be. Sooner it happens the better. Watch the oil prices. If they keep dropping Qatar won't be able to afford continuing to fight a losing battle.