Amsterdam Schiphol airline route expansion cap in progress?

Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways have been succesful in expanding global networks and opening new options to airline passengers to connect the world. It may be the reason Emirates calls its airline: The connector of people.

Etihad Airways for example enjoys code share partnership agreements with KLM and Air France the national carrier for The Netherlands.

It appears instead of partnering with Etihad Airwya, KLM is far more worried about competing against this Middle East Carrier. The result may have been for KLM to push the Dutch Government to put restrictions on expansion plans accessing Amsterdam Schiphol International Airport by Etihad, Emirates and Qatar Airways.

National carriers in Europe and North America fear competition and are forming alliances with local competitors and put pressure on their governments to tighten Open Sky Agreements with the UAE or Qatar and restrict Gulf based airlines access to their home market.

A possible move by the Dutch government to block the Gulfs three largest airline from adding more flights to Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport is unlikely to have a major impact on the carriers.

Dutch newspaper, Financieele Dagblad, reported earlier this week the government will not allow Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways to launch any new flights to Amsterdam.

Emirates flies twice daily from Dubai and Etihad flies once daily from Abu Dhabi in addition to a code-share flight with French-Dutch airline Air France-KLM. Qatar Airways will launch services from Doha in June.

Air France-KLM, with its small home market, has developed an effective hub operation at its Amsterdam base. However, there are many new traffic flows, which an airline like Emirates brings to the Dutch market that cannot be tapped by KLM in its own network structure.

Dutch State Secretary for the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment, Wilma Mansveld, reportedly said this week: “I want, together with my European colleagues, to take a tougher approach to the rise of airlines in the Middle East if there is talk of unfair competition.”

None of the Gulf based airlines have yet acknowledged any such restriction according to Middle East media reports. Dutch authorities also have not confirmed or denied such reports.

An Emirates spokesperson told local media that “under the UAE-Netherlands air services agreement, there are no restrictions on the number of frequencies and the size of aircraft used.”