Originally Posted by Guy Betsy
So how is this different? Each airline tries to undercut another to get passengers. Having EK come into Canada is not going to drive away competition from the likes of KL, LH , or BA. In fact I am sure they welcome it.
The difference is that there is very strong bilateral traffic that flies on KL to NL, on LH to DE, and on BA to the UK. They don't rely disproportionately on beyond the gateway traffic. Fifth/sixth freedom traffic is gravy on top of the big turkey.
EY/EK relies on a lot of gravy to make up the very small turkey underneath.