Do the Gulf airlines distort the level playing field

Abstract Gulf State aviation repeats a national development model previously applied in Southeast Asia. Developing national carriers and airport infrastructure together supports tourism, technology transfer and economic growth. Gulf airports leverage geographic advantage, but greater benefits flow from the absence of curfews or expansion constraints. Comparing Boeing B777-300 unit costs for one-stop journeys between Hong Kong and four European cities via Dubai, Frankfurt, London, and Amsterdam finds that the longer Dubai journey absorbs any cost advantage from through journeys on wide-body aircraft. Configuration impacts unit cost. Emirates configurations match Lufthansa, British Airways and KLM. Qatar Airways and Etihad match less dense Asian carriers. Finally, lower airport charges persist for the Gulf airports despite the introduction of transfer passenger fees in 2016.