Thierry Antinori
During a year in which Emirates opened its 10th U.S. gateway, in Orlando, last month, while answering allegations from the Big Three U.S. airlines that the United Arab Emirates subsidizes the airline in violation of open-skies agreements, News Editor Johanna Jainchill sat down with Thierry Antinori, Emirates' chief commercial officer, in the carrier's luxury suite at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in Flushing, N.Y.
Q: The [Big Three] airlines say Emirates is heavily subsidized by the UAE, which is why it can offer all the things you say makes it a better carrier.
A: Our president, Sir Tim Clark, already answered those allegations when he was in Washington and gave a 450-page report refuting each of the infamous attacks of the Big Three airlines, the troika [American, Delta and United], so we do not need to open that again. ... Emirates is run purely commercially and you know, before I worked for Lufthansa, and Emirates is a lot different than Lufthansa, but one thing is in common: the same auditors, the PwC. Our accounts have been audited ... and we are not distracted. We continue to make our service for the customers. The story of this country, which is marvelous and beautiful, is consumer freedom of choice, and the U.S. economy and the U.S. tourism industry benefitted from that. And many people from airports and other airlines like JetBlue and Atlas and FedEx are supporting [us] in this debate. So we cannot mix the interests of the country with the interests of [the Big Three airlines].
Q: What's the strategy behind Orlando?
A: Orlando is a multifaceted market. It's about incoming people, especially from India and the [Gulf] countries to visit Orlando, Disney, to take cruises, but also Orlando is one of the most important cities in the world for meetings, conferences and trade. ... It's also for people based in Florida to travel to the Middle East without having to make multiple stops. If you want to go now from Orlando to Hyderabad, you have one stop via Dubai. ... Until now you had to fly Orlando to Atlanta to Amsterdam to Delhi and Hyderabad.
Q: So you would say Emirates created a market with this route?
A: Of course. Now people from Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bahrain and even from India will say, 'Emirates is flying to Orlando? It must be interesting'... With Emirates, it's about growth. You see opportunities, you look for opportunities, you stimulate, you are offensive; 35% of the worldwide population lives within a four-hour flight from Dubai, 75% within an eight-hour flight. We are balanced: 30% of our business is Asia, 30% Europe and the 40% rest is a mix of [Gulf], Africa and Americas. The U.S. airlines [don't fly to the region frequently]; for instance, American, is not flying one flight to Middle East or India. We are interested in all the world.
Q: How much of your U.S. business comes through travel agents?
A: Between 80% to 85%. We are committed to the trade. ... We put money on the table to inform the trade. We think that personal interactions are important. If you meet people, you know people; if you know people, you communicate with people; if you communicate, you trust people. If you trust people, you can make a good business. ... In this country, because the customer has a choice, every day you have to show why the customer has a good reason to fly with you.