The US carriers wield their new weapon: preclearance
It would seem that the US carriers have heeded our advice in this month’s Aviation Intelligence Reporter. We reported that delays in Etihad’s service into the USA have allegedly been caused by the US Customs’ preclearance facilities at Abu Dhabi, which have been accused of slowing down the passenger transfer and boarding processes. We rather cheekily suggested that, if that is actually the case, the US carriers could make some competitive gains by further encouragement of preclearance facilities. Well, American Airlines and United Airlines have both just come out in support of plans by the US Department of Homeland Security to expand preclearance to another 10 airports. This includes airports in Belgium, Sweden, Norway, the UK, Japan and the Dominican Republic. They should really have pushed for Qatar and Dubai while they were at it. This news may also indicate presage the start of another campaign by the US airlines against a rising foreign competitor: Turkish Airlines. The list of airports where US Customs is planning to operate preclearance facilities also includes Istanbul Airport in Turkey. Currently, Delta is the only US carrier to operate any direct service between Istanbul and the USA and this is a seasonal flight to New York. In contrast, Turkish Airlines currently operates seven routes to USA from Istanbul Airport and its passenger volumes on these routes increased by 21% in the last year. The airline is also 49.12% owned by the government, which won’t sit well with the US carriers. THY might be well advised to keep an eye on the US carriers’ antics.Trackback from your site.