Emirates, Etihad and Qatar: graphing return to normality:
Big three of the Middle East – Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways – are amongst the best known airlines in the world and amongst the biggest rivals. COVID-19 epidemic only exemplified this rivalry, as each airline strived to announce a return to their pre-pandemic destinations. But how did their efforts fare against each other?
On March 25, 2020, Etihad Airways announced the suspension of their passenger services. A day later, Emirates airline operated their last pre-lockdown flight. For these two, the next months were full of cargo hauling and occasional repatriation flights, mostly employing airliners as impromptu transporters.
Qatar Airways went the other route. They reduced flight numbers by over two-thirds, but did not stop operations altogether, using remains of scheduled flights to fly home people who got stranded abroad, bring medical supplies and haul cargo – and sometimes, all of this together. As a result, come April, the airline proudly announced briefly becoming the world's biggest airline, accounting for 17.8% of the global market.
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