Since 2001 Emirates Airlines serve flights to Dubai departing from Duesseldorf Airport. The business model of this airline mainly focuses on passengers, who change fllights in the Asian-Pacific area. The study deals with the issue as to how the new flight service affects other European hubs.
It becomes evident that the established airlines have been able to slightly increase their passenger traffic heading from Duesseldorf to Asia via their hubs, despite the more intense competition. Moreover, Lufthansa have been able to maintain a rather high price level, since mainly for time sensitive business travellers short-time transfer connections are available. However, Emirates are able to offer a price level which is significantly higher than those of other airlines despite rather long travel times.
This indicates the establishment of the Arabian Carrier as a premium brand. Furthermore, significant traffic generation effects for the final destination Dubai are revealed by the new direct service.
The effects of Emirates Airlines newly joining the market as observed on Duesseldorf Airport (Download PDF)