Middle East carriers compete to attract San Francisco travelers

It’s a field day for San Francisco travelers. They are perhaps quite happier than before. Leading Middle East carriers like Emirates Airline and Etihad Airways are aggressively competing with each other to attract travelers to/from San Francisco International Airport in a big way. And, in the process more goodies and perks are coming their way like never before.

Just sample all that are being currently offered by these airlines to their respective customers. Emirates Airline has now upgraded the route and will be deploying an Airbus A380 to operate flights to San Francisco. The customers traveling in first class and business class cabins on the double-decker aircraft will be provided luxurious facilities like private suites and a complimentary limousine service to ferry the premium customers.

Etihad Airways, a new entrant in San Francisco, started operating direct flights to Abu Dhabi in November 2014. Turkish Airlines, another Middle East carrier, is planning to begin direct flights to San Francisco from Istanbul in April 2015.

Doug Yakel, a spokesman of San Francisco International Airport, said that there is a growing demand from Bay travelers who are eager to enjoy vacations in the Middle East or want to travel beyond from here to India and Africa. This increased demand has prompted the three major Middle East carriers to ramp up their services and offer plush perks to attract the travelers fly with them.

He said that San Francisco is not only a lucrative market for the Middle East carriers, but this route has seen aggressive competition among leading U.S. domestic budget carriers such as Southwest Airlines, JetBlue Airways and Virgin America, and legacy carriers like United Airlines as well. The fierce competition led to lowering of airfares thus benefiting the customers in a big way.

Now, with three Middle East carriers making foray in the San Francisco market, the travelers stand to benefit globally with reduced airfares.