There are no longer any American carriers flying to the United Arab Emirates.
United Airlines just axed its Washington D.C. to Dubai route, meaning U.S. carriers now only operate flights to the country through codeshare agreements. The airline cited falling profits and accused "subsidized" Gulf carriers of dominating the market.
"Even though we successfully operated the Washington-Dubai route for the past seven years, the entry of subsidised carriers such as Emirates airline and Etihad Airways into the Washington, DC market has created an imbalance between supply and demand to the UAE," United said in a statement, according to The National .
"As they’ve added subsidised capacity, our Washington-Dubai route has become less profitable.”
However, Adel Ahmad Al Redha, the CEO of of Emirates, was perplexed by United Airlines' decision saying, "It is a good route; I don’t know why they want to pull out. For sure there’s a good capacity for Emirates and everybody, because there is a demand from Washington to Dubai."
Gulf carriers Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad Airways have been in an ongoing row with U.S. and European competitors since earlier this year. Accusing the Gulf carriers of receiving unfair government subsidies, the Western competitors have lobbied their governments to hinder further expansion of the three airlines.
However, Etihad Airwaiys responded earlier this year, releasing a document showing $70 billion in purported subsidies from the U.S. government to the nation's three major airlines. Gulf carriers have also created thousands of jobs in the U.S. and are consistently ranked as the top carriers in the world.