When asked by Payload Asia
in Doha recently about the
largely quiet role of Chinese
carriers, in what some refer to as the
‘sleeping giants’ of the air cargo sector, Al
Baker said: “I agree, the Chinese carriers
are sleeping giants. In my mind China is
the economic superpower and they have
huge growth potential.”
But there is one aspect of these sleeping
giants that is seldom discussed within the
industry, or by those in the US and Europe
who are engaged in the fierce state subsidy
rhetoric aimed largely Qatar Airways and
its next door neighbor in Dubai.
“I want to put one question to people
who always accuse us of subsidies. They
never talk about Chinese carriers because
the business in China suits them. They
want to concentrate on a place where they
get the highest yield and no competition
and it serves their purpose.
“I don’t mean to say Chinese carriers
get subsidies, but Chinese carriers are all
government owned – the government
puts equity into those companies, the
same as my government does in Qatar
Airways.”
And this he says, like the Chinese
carriers is not ongoing equity, but onetime
equity from which point the carrier
is expected to conduct its business. And
for Qatar Airways financing for new
aircraft comes not from the government
treasury, he points out, but from
international financial institutions.
“We run our business on a commercial
basis and like Chinese carriers who
use infrastructure that belongs to the
municipalities of their hubs, same as
here the infrastructure belongs to the
government. And when governments
build infrastructure they don’t build it
to get return on it, they build to serve
the travelling public and to serve the
economic interest of the country.
“So why every time this issue arises
that we are criticised as subsidised,
but countries like China, India, Russia,
African countries other Middle Eastern
countries who operate their airlines
and infrastructure on the same basis
as our government does, nobody talks
about them?
“So you already know this is all
about not being able to match up the
competition – it’s as simple as that.
When you look at China the airplanes
for the airlines are bought by the
government. Imagine if my head of state
walked into a Boeing factory and signed
an order for 200 airplanes, the shit
would hit the fan. But when it happens
to other countries nobody talks about
it, which means they are showing bias
against us.”
When asked for his views on the talk
of Chinese carriers being merged into one
or two airlines by the country’s central
government, Al Baker said he is all for
the move.
“I think it will be a very good thing.
It will be good because it will bring
synergies and also when they merge it will
also create more room for international
carriers to operate because once they
merge they will operate more efficiently,”
he said adding that he does not mean they
are inefficient, but rather that a merger
will unleash unrealised synergies and also
free up slots which are now duplicated
because there are so many different
airlines, he explained.
He also adds that the relationship with
the IAG Group is working well and Qatar
Airways is satisfied with the 9.99 per cent
stake it has in the group. “We are very
satisfied with the way he [Willie Walsh]
is managing his business and we carry
cargo for him in a very efficient way – so
it’s win-win for both and this is exactly
what the legacy carriers, Air France-KLM,
Lufthansa should do.
“They should realise we are existing,
we are not going to evaporate, we are not
going to disappear and it’s in their interest
to work with us. I’m open for business with
anybody. In the interest of Qatar Airways
I will even do business with the devil.”
