Delta Air Lines shrinks Dubai service, points to Gulf carrier growth

NEW YORK: Delta Air Lines Inc. has scrapped a number of its flights to Dubai this winter in an apparent nod to how competition with three Gulf carriers is hurting its business.
Delta, the second-largest US passenger carrier, will fly nonstop to Dubai from its Atlanta hub between four and five times per week starting Oct. 1, down from daily service this summer.
The airline revised its schedule on Friday to reflect the change, part of a broader 15-to-20 percent cut in capacity to the Middle East and Africa that Delta announced in April.
“The reduction comes amid overcapacity on US routes to the Middle East operated by government-owned and subsidized airlines,” Delta spokesman Trebor Banstetter said in a statement, noting that daily service would return in the spring of 2016.
Delta said months ago that its international capacity cuts were in response to falling crude prices hitting demand in oil-rich markets and to the strong US dollar that has hurt the spending power of foreign travelers.
Large US unions and airlines, led by Delta, charge that Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways have received some $42 billion in subsidies from their home governments in the past decade. They say this has allowed the Gulf carriers to start dumping capacity into the US, driving down prices and pushing out competitors.