Comparing Two Emirates Companies in the Same Industry - Case Study Example

Currently, the airline industry is large and growing, and is now the most fiercely competitive sector in the UAE (Hofmann, 2007). The industry promotes the growth of the world economy, facilitates international trade and investment, and also tourism. Over time, the airline industry has adapted to modern technology use and takes advantage of the short-haul, and high frequency, and thus has gained a competitive edge over other modes of travel including railway and road. In addition to that, the airline industry holds the global market travel at providing both convenience and low-cost travel.

The industry contributes well to the gross domestic product (GDP) through airline services, aviation passengers, general aviation, civil airport operations, and aircraft manufacturing. The aviation and transport infrastructure is the basic catalyst for the creation of global towns. The growth of airlines in the Emirates integrates the spirit of competition and free enterprise, which will persistently guide airlines’ policies for the benefit of the UAE and the global community in which they operate.

Amidst the global economic crisis, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported that actual passenger traffic has increased by 5.9 percent worldwide from 2007 (Dunn, 2012). More surprisingly is that the Middle East shows the strongest growth with a remarkable 15.4 percent growth as of September 2006. Within the Middle East, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region has illustrated major developments in the industry (Dunn, 2012). New entrants in the airline business are threatening the existence of long-established airlines, while others are expanding their services into the global arena.

This competition has led to the airline industry becoming globally competitive in regards to the market and customers (Dunn, 2012).2.2 Industry life cycleThe lifecycle of a product or refers to the sequences of phases that a product goes through as it develops in the market. Newly introduced products pass through sequences of stages from introduction into the market to maturity, or growth to decline and these sequences make up the product life cycle (Hofmann, 2007).