After months of stalemate between UAE carriers and the Canadian government over landing rights, the CEO of Etihad is in Toronto trying to mend fences.
In a keynote address to the Board of Trade in Canada's largest city, James Hogan outlined the case for opening up Canadian skies to UAE carriers. Under the current agreement, Etihad and Emirates are each limited to three flights weekly to Toronto. Both airlines want more flights and want access to other destinations including Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal.
The landing rights issue has soured relations between Abu Dhabi and Ottawa, with Canadians now being required to obtain a single entry visa before visiting the UAE.
"We are no threat to Canadian airlines or to Canadian aviation," he said in a prepared speech released in advance of yesterday afternoon's meeting of the Toronto Board of Trade.
"We come in peace, as the Martians like to say."
Air Canada is bitterly opposed to granting more landing rights, and the federal government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper backs the subsidised Canadian legacy carrier.
"We provide an important air bridge," Hogan said. "What I'm talking about is a new Silk Road — modern air routes that funnel passenger traffic through Middle East hubs instead of European terminals."
"It's important that we continue to make people in government aware of Etihad the business," Hogan said. "I'm very keen to get more in regard to traffic rights, but until they come, I have to work with what I have." At present, an estimated 27,000 Canadians live and work in the UAE.
Air Canada argues that its connecting points at the Lufthansa base of Frankfurt and other Star Alliance hubs such as London's Heathrow Airport will suffer if Etihad and Emirates are allowed more access to Canadian destinations. Air Canada's position, however, hardened four years ago after Emirates refused to enter into a profit sharing agreement with the Montreal-based carrier.
Under the rejected deal, Air Canada said it would allow Emirates daily flight to Toronto and the Canadian airline would time some domestic flights to allow for connections. Air Canada wanted half of Emirates' profits on the route from the new arrangement — which was rejected by the Dubai carrier.
"We're very keen to move to daily on Toronto, and then after that, see what other secondary cities to Canada that we could fly to," Hogan said,
"Going to a minimum of daily is key."
Hogan told the Board of Trade audience that Ottawa shouldn't fear Etihad, arguing that there will be economic spinoffs in Canada if more flights are allowed.
"Abu Dhabi is the capital, it's a destination in its own right and it's a great transfer point," he said. "I'm taking advantage of my hub, where I can fly non-stop from Abu Dhabi to Sydney, New York, Chicago, Toronto, Moscow, London, Frankfurt and Paris."
Etihad operates the Boeing 777 on the Toronto-Abu Dhabi route, featuring 28 seats in business class and 384 seats in the economy cabin. Emirates services the route with its Airbus A380 superjumbo.
Cargo capacity on the route is fully booked weeks in advance.
"The Gulf is becoming the new crossroad for the world," Hogan said. "Within two hours of arriving in Adu Dhabi, we can connect you to destinations like Oman, Bahrain. To all the Middle Eastern capitals — to Cairo, to Beirut. We can take you into India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, down into southeast Asia."
A report issued on Thursday by Dubai Airports said that in Dubai alone, the aviation industry represented 28 per cent of current gross domestic product, and that would grow to 32 per cent by 2020
