Northstar

FEATURE www.travelweeklyweb.com Breaking barriers T he scene has definitely taken a different setting. A projection detailed out by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), sees Middle Eastern carriers heading skyways to achieve a profit of US$1.5 billion in 2013. The forecast is not without industry's assurance and collective agreement that the gulf carriers are indeed at a steady pace of rapid expansion particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. Main players such as Emirates Airlines, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways have placed strategic focus on their main hubs. With Emirates in Dubai, Etihad in Abu Dhabi and Qatar based in Doha, the three kings of gulf air has managed to break the barriers of air travel through codesharing routes, sponsorship, branding campaigns and acquisition of aircraft, increasing seat capacity and passenger numbers. Emirates, the oldest of the three, remains as the market leader, with an estimated 54 per cent growth from November 2011 to November this year. Etihad has also made news in many ways the past two years or so, and is growing rapidly between its hub in Abu Dhabi and Southeast Asia by 65 per cent, with additional 19,000 weekly seats. Since last year, Qatar's presence in Southeast Asia has also increased by almost half, putting more destinations on its route network. In a statement, the aviation authority highlighted that: "Indicative of the characteristically razor thin profits of the airline industry, even this small margin will make 2013 the third strongest year for airlines since the events of 2001." According to the Centre for Aviation and Innovata (CAPA), Turkish Airlines has also made headwinds with the resumption of its service to Kuala Lumpur. However, its presence in Asia-Pacific still lags behind the three mighty gulf carriers, with its focus at the moment, primarily targeted at the domestic, African and the European markets. As of May this year, Turkish Airlines serves 27 destinations, Emirates – 38, Qatar – 41 and Etihad – 33. Moving away from APAC, and closer to their individual hubs, it makes sense to collaborate with the up and coming heart of Central Asia, Kazakhstan, which is in the works of some major revamping to its tourism industry. 4 | ■ TRAVELWEEKLY ASIA | AUGUST 2013 www.travelweeklyweb.com

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