Is There an Emirates/Etihad Effect?
 

I read in the paper today that one of the reasons that Lufthansa has given to its union to keep costs under control is the need to compete with Emirates.

This got me to thinking....

I have noticed that while fares from the West Coast to Europe in the Winter have almost doubled over the last 5 years ($5-600 fares were common not too long ago), fares to India/Middle East/South Africa seemed to have increased by far less.

Perhaps this is because of Emirates and Etihad? They compete on routes from the US to India/Middle East/Africa, but not US to Europe.

Is There an Emirates/Etihad Effect?
 

It is a possibility?but I don't think it's just emirates and Etihad. I think it is consortium of other Middle East airline as well. And I completely agree with you that fares have actually remained the same. I purchased a flight to India in June for 975$ considering it is a peak season.

That is about to change as EK have announced a MXP-JFK routing starting in October this year.

It is a part of the picture. Worse yet, the governments on both sides of the Atlantic have allowed the likes of LH and the other US and European TATL flying giants a right to collude against consumers in various ways -- the related ATI JVs have really come with increased US-Europe fares in a way that has not held out for US-SW/S Asia fares when originating out of airports with airlines not in an ATI JV with the US and European flying big fish.