AGL 39.15 Decreased By ▼ -0.85 (-2.13%)
AIRLINK 127.66 Decreased By ▼ -1.40 (-1.08%)
BOP 6.80 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.74%)
CNERGY 4.66 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (3.79%)
DCL 8.49 Decreased By ▼ -0.06 (-0.7%)
DFML 40.86 Increased By ▲ 0.04 (0.1%)
DGKC 82.01 Increased By ▲ 1.05 (1.3%)
FCCL 32.98 Increased By ▲ 0.21 (0.64%)
FFBL 73.60 Decreased By ▼ -0.83 (-1.12%)
FFL 11.84 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (0.85%)
HUBC 109.25 Decreased By ▼ -0.33 (-0.3%)
HUMNL 14.27 Increased By ▲ 0.52 (3.78%)
KEL 5.22 Decreased By ▼ -0.09 (-1.69%)
KOSM 7.52 Decreased By ▼ -0.20 (-2.59%)
MLCF 39.10 Increased By ▲ 0.50 (1.3%)
NBP 63.75 Increased By ▲ 0.24 (0.38%)
OGDC 193.05 Decreased By ▼ -1.64 (-0.84%)
PAEL 25.62 Decreased By ▼ -0.09 (-0.35%)
PIBTL 7.29 Decreased By ▼ -0.10 (-1.35%)
PPL 153.57 Decreased By ▼ -1.88 (-1.21%)
PRL 25.45 Decreased By ▼ -0.34 (-1.32%)
PTC 17.34 Decreased By ▼ -0.16 (-0.91%)
SEARL 79.38 Increased By ▲ 0.73 (0.93%)
TELE 7.58 Decreased By ▼ -0.28 (-3.56%)
TOMCL 33.35 Decreased By ▼ -0.38 (-1.13%)
TPLP 8.35 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.6%)
TREET 16.21 Decreased By ▼ -0.06 (-0.37%)
TRG 56.65 Decreased By ▼ -1.57 (-2.7%)
UNITY 27.50 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.04%)
WTL 1.36 Decreased By ▼ -0.03 (-2.16%)
BR100 10,443 Decreased By -2.3 (-0.02%)
BR30 30,955 Decreased By -234.6 (-0.75%)
KSE100 98,010 Increased By 211.4 (0.22%)
KSE30 30,577 Increased By 96.5 (0.32%)

State-owned Emirates and Etihad, two of the Middle East''s top airlines, denied a Bloomberg report on Thursday which quoted unnamed sources as saying Emirates was seeking to take over smaller Etihad to create the world''s largest carrier. "There is no truth to this rumour," an Emirates spokeswoman told Reuters. Etihad made a similar statement.
Emirates is owned by the government of Dubai, the region''s tourism hub, while Etihad is controlled by the government of neighbouring Abu Dhabi, which thanks to oil exports is the wealthiest member of the United Arab Emirates. The ownership of the two airlines would make any merger politically sensitive. There have been few cross-border mergers within the UAE, a federation of seven semi-autonomous emirates; such tie-ups require the approval of the ruling families of the emirates involved.
Both airlines, which grew rapidly earlier this decade, have faced financial pressures in the past two years because of tough competition in the industry and a regional economic slowdown due to low oil prices. Earlier this year, the two carriers signed agreements to cooperate in some areas, such as a deal under which Etihad pilots can join Emirates on a temporary basis for two years.
However, Emirates chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum ruled out a merger in May this year. A source close to Etihad told Reuters on Thursday that while a merger could conceivably happen in the future, Abu Dhabi would not quickly give up control of its airline and brand, especially after it had invested billions of dollars in its international airport and other aviation infrastructure.
A senior banker monitoring business in the Gulf said the idea of an Emirates-Etihad merger had been circulating "on and off for at least five years", but that he hadn''t heard of any new development. No bank has been mandated to arrange a deal, which would be very difficult operationally, he added.

Copyright Reuters, 2018

Comments

Comments are closed.