If Emirates follows through on its consideration to buy out Etihad Airways, the result would be the biggest airline in the world in terms of annual number of passengers.

As both airlines have hubs only one hour away from each other in the United Arab Emirates, a joint airline would continue to serve the region well by connecting major destinations around the world.

Etihad has experienced financial problems as of late since the airline’s former CEO chose to expand the airline too quickly and attempted to acquire smaller airlines that ultimately failed in their own sectors, such as Alitalia and defunct airberlin. As a result, Etihad had to cut jobs and large profitable routes.

Preliminary discussions have begun concerning a merger between the two airlines, with Emirates beginning to assist in Etihad operations as early as January 2019. By June, Etihad may potentially allow its pilots to join Emirates flight crew teams on a temporary basis. Based on these changes, Emirates would seek to merge the two airlines under a common agreement rather than completely acquiring and buying out Etihad.