As USA Today indicates in an article published on April 11 , the administrative court of Rome has just blocked the service of the Milan Malpensa – New York JFK link by Emirates, on the appeal of Assaero, the representative of the Italian companies.

Without wishing to contest the legal validity of this court’s decision, it is clear that it could be a measure of protectionism in favor of the companies in place, and not in favor of the travelers who could have benefited from a reduction price significant.

A service provided by Emirates since October 1, 2013

The link between Milan Malpensa and New York JFK has been provided by Emirates since October 1, 2013 .

This service, which bears the flight number EK206, is operated by Boeing 777-300ER 3 classes, and makes the end-to-end connection DXB-MXP-JFK and return. It is therefore not a flight dedicated to a transatlantic relationship, but a stopover for a DXB-JFK flight, even if the company has never denied wanting to take advantage of a transatlantic clientele.

Unwarranted hype

The media hype around this connection seems highly unjustified. If Emirates’ approach is certainly not common, it is not new.

Also, Singapore Airlines provides, in particular, a connection between Frankfurt and New York in continuation of their flight from Singapore ( SQ26 ).

Delta Air Lines, one of the plaintiffs in the Italian court, has been operating flights in Asia from Tokyo or Seoul to Bangkok, Hong Kong or Manila for several decades with its own aircraft, and sells these intra-Asian flights to local customers. .. So it’s a bit like the hospital that doesn’t give a damn about charity…

Air protectionism has no future

Airline protectionism, even based on regulations, has no real future. In the end, customers must have a choice, and hiding behind their backyard does not really help incumbent companies in their improvement in prices and quality of service, which is necessary for them to hold up over time.

Airline protectionism is also in the process of ending on the travel policies of companies, in particular American ones, some of which require their employees to travel exclusively on national companies, of questionable quality on the long haul: the lower costs of foreign companies impose this change of mentality!