Delta Cites Open Skies after Service Halt

Starting Feb. 11, 2016, Delta Airlines will no longer fly an Atlanta-Dubai route. The airline said that despite “overcapacity on U.S. routes to the Middle East,” it cannot compete with local “government-owned and heavily subsidized airlines.”

Delta, American, and United have all petitioned the U.S. government to freeze routes to the U.A.E. and Qatar until Gulf carriers correct alleged violations of the Open Skies agreement. Delta said that the subsidiaries that Gulf carriers—most notably Emirates, Qatar, and Etihad airlines—receiving $42 billion in state subsidies.

The Delta 777 aircraft used for the Atlanta-Dubai route will be redeployed to “other trans-Atlantic markets where it can compete on a level playing field that’s not distorted by subsidized state-owned airlines,” Delta said.

–Daniel McCarthy