The rise of Middle East aviation hubs is a feat of geography
Photo Credit: The fast growing skyline of Doha, Qatar. Flickr.com / Panoramas
Skift Take
The rulers of these tiny nation-states have realized the geopolitical advantage of being located where they are, and used the airlines as a proxy to extend their power.
It's 1 a.m. and the sprawling airport in this desert city of Dubai is bustling. Enough languages fill the air to make a United Nations translator's head spin.
Thousands of fliers arrive every hour from China, Australia, India and nearly everywhere else on the planet. Few venture outside the terminal, which spans the length of 24 football fields. They come instead to catch connecting flights to somewhere else.
If it weren't for three ambitious and rapidly expanding government-owned airlines — Emirates Airline, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways — they might have never come to the Middle East.
For generations, international fliers have stopped over in London, Paris and Amsterdam. Now, they increasingly switch planes in Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi, making this region the new crossroads of global travel. The switch is driven by both the airports and airlines, all backed by governments that see aviation as the way to make their countries bigger players in the global economy.
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