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Foreign Airlines Soar Past US Carriers
Adding services, expanding routes helps margins; take heed, US carriers
By Harry Kimball
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Posted Aug 4, 08 6:23 PM CDT
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(Newser)
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As US airlines flounder, and consumers pay the price in baggage fees and reduced services, foreign carriers have an antidote: Buy new, more fuel-efficient aircraft, offer more services, and watch the money roll in. Dubai-based Emirates, which introduced the Airbus A380 on the Dubai-to-New York route Friday, charges first- and business-class customers enough to offset money-losing coach seats, ABC News reports.
“The best thing you can do is get backpackers off your plane,” one analyst said. Said another: "The flag carriers like Lufthansa generally aren't trying to carry the type of customers that far more populist US carriers are trying to carry. European carriers don't try to carry package holiday travelers."