Support emerges for Gulf airlines

WASHINGTON, 9 August 2017: A coalition of transportation and tourism businesses, on Monday, called on the US government to preserve aviation agreements with Gulf nations despite accusations of unfair trade by major US airlines.

Businesses including courier service FedEx, budget air carrier JetBlue and hotel giant Wyndham, oppose calls from Delta, American Airlines and United to renegotiate open skies agreements with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

The three biggest US air carriers say Abu Dhabi and Doha have pumped billions in unfair subsidies into their national airlines Etihad and Qatar Airways, and they are lobbying the Trump administration to step in. Read more