The Partnership for Open & Fair Skies issued the following statement regarding a new analysis released today by Georgetown University professor Dr. Rob Britton, titled, “Reconsidering the U.S.-UAE Aviation Relationship.” The paper examines how the airlines of the United Arab Emirates, Emirates and Etihad, receive enormous subsidies that distort the aviation marketplace and create an unfair playing field for U.S. carriers.

“Dr. Britton makes a clear and compelling argument for why U.S. carriers are standing up against massive government-funded subsidies at Etihad Airways, Emirates and Qatar Airways,” said Jill Zuckman, chief spokesperson for the Partnership for Open & Fair Skies. “As his paper demonstrates, the Gulf carriers receive ‘stunning and unprecedented’ financial support from the UAE that dramatically upends the aviation marketplace. As more experts study this case and the evidence, we are encouraged that they are supporting our request for the U.S. government to open consultations with the UAE under the Open Skies agreement. That is why we are asking the U.S. government to freeze Gulf carrier flights at current levels until this issue is resolved.”

Dr. Britton is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, a senior advisor at the Eno Center for Transportation and an aviation consultant. The paper by Dr. Britton can be found here.