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ports are irrelevant, Emirates can offer night flights, large terminals and plentiful runways
unavailable in other countries where locals demand restrictions and regulations.
Labor costs at Emirates are at least 30 percent lower than those at other airlines, largely
because labor laws for the lowliest workers in the emirate are considered nearly mediev-
al in a country of such wealth—a point of special importance for construction of those
hotels, palaces and stadiums. Pilots and other members of the professional staff are paid
competitive international wages, which are especially attractive because there are no taxes
in Dubai. The lower on the employment scale, the lower the wages, whether in house-
keeping or catering. At rock bottom are the countless construction workers who built the
airport and hangars. And like all foreigners, they live in Dubai on two-to-three-year tem-
porary visas that are granted at the request of the employer. That means if your employer is
unhappy with you, you're not only out of a job; you are on the next airplane out of Dubai.
Whatever works for business becomes government policy in Dubai, Inc.
Today, Emirates Airlines is ranked as the world's largest airline by passengers carried
and by capacity. It is easily one of the most comfortable airlines I've ever flown on as well
as one of the most convenient and inexpensive in that part of the world. Remarkably, when
I had to fly from Bangladesh to Sri Lanka, the easiest and least expensive route was through
Dubai on Emirates Airlines, even though that meant double the time in the air.
Alain St. Onge, the CEO of the Seychelles Tourism Board, said that Dubai is the most
popular transit point for flights to his island nation off the coast of Africa. “We have more
transfers from Dubai by far, more than from Johannesburg. If we want more flights, Dubai
always said yes. Other airlines had to figure out the pros and cons. Dubai could say yes.”
Other airlines have called foul and accused Dubai and Emirates Airlines of providing
hidden, questionable subsidies for jet fuel. So far, none of the charges have stuck, although
Emirates resists adding extra charges other airlines have been forced to impose, and even
dropped the fuel surcharge in 2012 as the price rose.
To understand the repercussions of having such a huge and growing airline, consider
the value of business done with frequent-flyer miles. Started as a marketing gimmick by
American Airlines in 1981, frequent-flyer miles are now considered one of the largest
currencies in the world. In a 2005 analysis,
The Economist
magazine valued frequent-
flyer miles as greater than the U.S. dollars in circulation that year. British Airways said its
frequent-flyer miles are one of the four biggest currencies used to buy airline tickets.
Airlines and airports are in a category of their own in the tourism industry.
Today, Dubai is the third-largest airport in the world for international passengers and
poised to grow even larger. Within five years Dubai plans to complete an entirely new air-
port at Jebel Ali that will be the largest in the world. At that point the Gulf region will have
a greater airport capacity than the combined giants London Heathrow, Paris Charles de
Gaulle and Frankfurt. Already, the head of Air France is warning that this stretch of sand
on the Gulf is poised to dethrone Western Europe as the globe's central air hub.
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