NorthernLad

Emirates ‘overcharges UAE residents for outbound flights’, says Khalaf Al Habtoor - ArabianBusiness.com

We just booked return flights for Christmas to Newcastle. We are using KLM for the first time, there is a two hour stopover in Amsterdam but KLM is 7,500dh cheaper for three of us than with Emirates.

iggle

And I am looking at flying back for Xmas. British Airways is 3,000 cheaper than Etihad. I wanna fly etihad for the miles!!!!!!!!!!! I'll make it my annual flight home i think

Inselaffen

this is not exactly news to anyone living here.
We've booked with Virgin for our flights at Christmas

KJinDoha

It's the same here with QA.

I guess it's due to lack of competition. If they have a monopoly on the route then they can fill planes at high rates. In the UAE I think there is some competition but not enough to drive a fair price. I can fly UK-Doha-Far East for half the price of UK-Doha

DXBtoDOH

It's been like that forever.

UAE is a trapped market for Emirates. Then there's the rule of thumb that direct flights are always costlier than flights with layovers.

I was looking at flights to Europe this X-mas and ironically I found that departing from DXB it's cheaper to fly Qatar with a short layover in Doha, but if you depart from DOH it's cheaper to fly Emirates with a short layover in Dubai!

Nonetheless, the price differential between Emirates and competitor airlines with the same direct flight is staggering (Emirates versus BA non-stop for example). I know people like to whinge about BA but I fly them a lot and they're always perfectly fine.

And, of course, Emirates is always cheaper departing from the UK

NorthernLad

Of course it's not...but as far as I can remember, it's the first time someone like Khalaf Al Habtoor has publicly highlighted it.

scrubbedexpat141

I always have a return to the UK with Emirates booked.

My Xmas flights will be about 3,500 with Emirates. The Mrs, for an earlier departure and the same return will be 5-6,000.

Glad that someone big has called them out but do we expect change?

I also now search around for BA / Virgin instead.

DXBtoDOH

Despite the competition (and there's a lot of it) the reason Emirates gets away with high prices for passengers originating in DXB is because the vast bulk of their passengers are in transit. You board the plane in Dubai for the UK (or HK or Sydney), most of your passengers will have originated elsewhere. Emirates captures that market through a combination of high quality services and reasonable prices.

But for the DXB market they've learned UAE customers are willing to pay high prices just for the sake of a direct flight so they keep overcharging. Probably because a lot of it is annual flights. I know when I use my annual flight, the company's travel office books the flight I want without any questions, even if it's 2,000 AED more expensive than a competitor flight.... same for business travel.

mission

this has always been the case....flying out of Dubai with emirates is always more expensive then using any other airline

Inselaffen

I used to fly Emirates Singapore - DXB - LHR for more or less the same price they charge for DXB-LHR.

scrubbedexpat141

Never used to be this bad. Even in the 5+ years I've been here a DXB-LHR-DXB flight has risen dramatically.

Used to occasionally get them in the 2-3000 range. Normally 3-3,500. Now they're way above that. Most will be 4,500 / 5,000.

jam25mack

The way to do it is to book a cheapie single (or return and dump the return leg) to the UK and then book a UK - DXB - UK flight and put the return date way off in the future and change it when required. The each time book the flight as if originating from the UK. You'll save a fortune if you manage to keep it rolling for a few years.

iggle

Who goes back to the UK any way. Full of Chavs, Poles and Indians. Might as well stay and go barasti

scrubbedexpat141

Yup, as I said - has saved me a fortune. Book the return from Xmas for June. Change for 400 dibs to December. Bosh, flight home sorted.

mission

I only ever go to the UK if there is any major family event eg wedding (maybe xmas) etc otherwise the UK is the last place I would want to go too....when I do go, I literally only go for a long weekend.....that's more than enough for me.