Emirates Orders 32 Airbus A380

The United Arab Emirates is tiny -- Dubai's population is only 3.5 million. So why would the state-owned airline Emirates order 32 more giant double-decker A380's, making it the sole operator of roughly 40% of A380's worldwide? The answer is that Emirates is taking aim at traffic from other countries' traffic rights. Its latest target is Lufthansa and the huge German market -- by placing the order with Airbus (Germany is a huge shareholder in the Airbus parent company), Emirates is daring Germany to open the market and stop protecting Lufthansa. In doing so, Emirates may be re-writing the rules of open competition in the airline industry.


Emirates Orders 32 Airbus A380 - WSJ.com