The charm of UAE airlines

Dubai international Airport traffic in October 2015 cumulatively topped 64.9 million passengers, representing a whopping 11.2 per cent rise over the same period a year ago.
As it stands, the airport is well on track to surpass the record 70.4 million passengers it handled in 2014 and it's probably going to surpass the forecast 2015 which was put at 79 million passengers at the start of the year.
Despite the regional angst in Egypt, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, Afghanistan and other countries, the progressive nature of the UAE's aviation policy continues to show its strength, resilience and ability to adapt to the environment around it.
One only need look at the dearth of orders at the 2015 Dubai Air Show to understand that the event isn't just about airlines placing orders for the sake of making headlines; market maturity and development in the UAE has led the Dubai Air Show to become the pinnacle of aviation trade shows where exhibitors want to be because the whole world dare not miss it.
The value of Dubai, as an extension of the wider UAE, is eloquently symbolised by the Big Four carriers - Emirates, Etihad Airways, flydubai and Air Arabia.
All four are industry giants in their own right and while many still think that the aviation bubble in the GCC will burst, the reality is much different. In the wake of the terrible massacre in Paris, demand was inevitably hit, however, that demand is coming back and was only ever going to be a short-term impact for both Paris, customers, airlines and airports.
The world has become accustomed to air travel in the same way we all want a smartphone in our hands with as many useful apps as there are useless ones - it's like a habit that people can't be weaned off. While the UAE continues its mother-like nurture of its airlines, airports and aviation strategy, the chorus of ill-thought-out comments by US airlines against their GCC counterparts suddenly rose to the fore this year.
The interesting aspect of it all is that of the three US carriers making the most noise about GCC airlines, American Airlines and United Airlines have largely left all the verbatim to come from Delta Airlines - whose own CEO Richard Anderson recklessly assimilated the UAE with the tragedy of 9/11.
When a CEO can say acerbic and factually-incorrect things like this, it is no wonder then that criticism of US airlines has come not just from GCC airlines, but also from other US carriers themselves.
Alaska Airlines, JetBlue and FedEx have all rallied against American, Delta and United and spoken candidly about how UAE/GCC airlines benefit the US economy - not just because of the billions of dollar's worth of Boeing and GE orders but also because of passengers wanting more choice of international airlines coming to the US.
One look at Delta and you see that they are happily buying Airbus jets that are heavily subsidised by the unwitting EU taxpayer, to the detriment of US jobs at Boeing and then has the nerve to say that Gulf airlines are somehow hurting US employment? Nothing could be farther from the truth.
In fact, airlines like Emirates have single-handedly ordered more Boeing 777s since 1995 in total dollar value terms than Delta, American or United have for any Boeing jets in nearly 50 years. So please tell us Mr Anderson, just who is hurting American jobs? Emirates, or you? (No need for an answer there!)
Contrast this with American, Delta and United, who live only to pulverise the purse of US domestic travellers to boost quarterly earnings, while showing no desire to expand or compete internationally. Delta's pseudo-claim that it dropped the Atlanta-Dubai run was because of Emirates - a route that the Dubai-based airline doesn't even serve. United blindly followed Delta's lead and also dropped Dubai; is there collusion involved here in such decision making? Perhaps the US Department of Justice will examine these moves by the critical US carriers.
Both Emirates and Etihad - as well as Qatar Airways - have torn apart the myth that they are subsidised to wreak havoc in the airline business. Thankfully, neither the US government nor the wider US travelling public care much for the remarks and scandalous accusations made by American, Delta and United - they know that they get more value for money and more connectivity via GCC airlines - indeed, many US airports, for example like Orlando, are crying out for GCC airlines to come to the US and open up services that US carriers refuse to do. So, is it any wonder Emirates launched services to Orlando this year?
Going full circle, Emirates last month reported its highest profits for the first half of the year, signalling the robustness of its business model and the demand that it creates because of its innovative approach to organic growth.
Just this week, the airline announced an upgrade of Prague, Barcelona and Birmingham with A380 flights - they wouldn't be putting such a jet on these routes if demand didn't exist.
The UAE has battled hard to make its mark on the world - and in 2015, despite the nonsensical rhetoric stemming from dilapidated US airlines who have nothing to offer, airlines here are responding in the best way they can by winning more passengers, by creating connections where others are too afraid to venture and giving the travelling public value for money with the services that they demand.
While it's easy for me to say "Europe/US, sit up and take note", the problem they have is that the allure of burying their heads in the sand is far more appealing. Little wonder then, that customers have such disdain for them.
That is the biggest and best riposte to such airlines who make outlandish claims against the new generation of bellwether Arabian airlines who will dominate the market for years to come.
The writer is the chief analyst at London-based StrategicAero Research. Views expressed are his own and do not reflect the newspaper's policy.