Usually, merging two airlines happen due to changes in the dynamic economic conditions of the aviation industry or due to the high competition, or any other reason such as what I am expecting in this article.
When merging two airlines, a merger's time frame for completion is between six months to several years. In some instances, it may take only a few months to finalize the entire merger.
Why Etihad Airway was losing for six years?
According to my analysis, there are many reasons such as:
- The high competition from low-cost carriers in the middle east.
- The change in customer purchasing behavior due to the availability of multiple scheduled flights- (with lower ticket prices)-for the same route by different airlines.
- Bad customer service decisions.
- The management was focusing on restoring the profit rather than maintaining customer loyalty.
- Fail investments plans.
- The Etihad Airways CEO has no free hand to take strategic decisions.
- The Abu Dhabi government stopped throwing money at Etihad Airways.
Do Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways will be merged?
I will say yes, the two Airlines are in many ways duplicates. I expect that they will be merged before 2030!!. Not because of the financial position of Etihad Airways, it is because of the UAE CO2 emissions reduction strategic initiative that is a national drive to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
According to ceicdata.com, for UAE, the CO2 Emissions from Air Transport per Capita data were reported at 3,316.180 tonnes in 2022. This records an increase from the previous number of 2,221.090 tonnes for 2021. In addition, according to Reuters " Dubai plans to cut carbon emissions by 30% by the end of 2030".
Furthermore, according to www.statista.com, Dubai International Airport (DXB) emitted over 16.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) from international passenger travel in 2019. This numbers is the highest number for international travel!!.
The merger will happen if the two ruling royal families in the United Arab who own Emirates and Etihad Airways agreed to make the UAE the first country in the Middle East and North Africa region to achieve a national commitment to Net Zero by 2050.
The merger will help UAE to control the air traffic for the two major connecting airports by merging two airlines for more air transport efficiency and distributing the traffic between the two major connecting airports. Furthermore, expanding the travel network for the new world’s largest long-haul carrier to compete in the international market through the benefit of open skies.
Hyperloop of UAE
According to arabianbusiness.com, Virgin Hyperloop’s clean energy solution supports the goals of the UAE’s federal Energy Strategy 2050 to increase the contribution of clean energy in the total energy mix from 25 percent to 50 percent by 2050.
The Hyperloop of UAE will make traveling of passengers and cargo from Dubai to Abu Dhabi in only 12 minutes. The air passengers will travel from Dubai to Abu Dhabi and vice versa.
The Summary
Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways may be merged due to CO2 emissions reduction strategic initiative.
