Etihad’s European strategy and the new Realpolitik

摘要

ETIHAD in the past few years has pursued a strategy that has beenlikened to the “Hunter Strategy” of the former SAir Group (theairline formerly known as Swissair) in the late 1990s. It has acquiredminority stakes in moribund airlines which without this investmentwould normally have been expected to fail. Commentators havetried to explain the moves as an a empt to form a fourth global alliance,to generate opera onal synergies direc ng feed to its Abu Dhabi hub; oras providing E had (the smallest and youngest of the Superconnectors)with a method of compe ng efficiently with its close cousin Emirates(now the largest carrier worldwide ranked by interna onal RPK). Theseinterpreta ons may be partly correct; it is becoming clearer that E hadis cleverly posi oning itself in the emerging Realpoli k of the global avia on industry.