Originally Posted by Dudster
The assistance EK receives is rather indirect. Much of it revolves around the airport. For instance, there is only one ground handling agent at DXB -- Dnata, which is owned by EK. All other airlines at DXB must use Dnata for all services (ramp, ticketing, pax handling, etc.). Dnata's fees are quite high compared to airports where services are competitive (e.g. most of Europe). The govt perserves this monopoly for EK which forces other airlines to subsidize EK. Want catering? Your only choice is Emirates flight catering. Who was contracted for all of the IT infrastructure for the new terminal at DXB? Mercator, EK's systems integration subsidiary. If the government were to allow competition for all of these services, EK would be much less "profitable"
This i agree. All airlines that are majority owned by governments would have some sort of "help." For SQ, the increased insurance costs after the tragic crash in Taipei was picked by up the singapore government. Im sure Emirates would have some sort of financial assistance as well.
For airlines such as Qantas or US based airlines that do not have any government state, do not have this financial support to depend on.
But if you talk to these airline officials, im sure they will tell you to the tone of " its strictly business." a bit similar to the concept of the american TV show, "the Apprentice" by Donald Trump.