After going back and forth for several months, United Airlines announced it is canceling basic cooperation agreements with five Middle Eastern airlines, including Qatar Airways and Emirates, as the U.S. carrier continues to claim the largest Middle Eastern airlines compete unfairly by receiving government subsidies.
Though the Middle Eastern airlines deny this claim, United no longer maintains interline agreements with Fly Dubai, Royal Jordanian Airlines, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Emirates and Qatar.
What does this mean for travelers?
Customers on these airlines can no longer buy tickets with one segment on United and another on one of the Middle Eastern carriers. However, with hard-to-reach destinations, agents will occasionally issue tickets. United also will not book passengers on the other airlines during irregular operations, which can create challenges in certain circumstances.
While United maintains agreements with more than 150 airlines, several of which are competitors, the decision with the Middle Eastern carriers is not a huge surprise as United CEO Oscar Munoz has sharply criticized Emirates, Etihad Airways and others for talking $50 billion in subsidies since 2004, claiming “those airlines aren’t airlines.”
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