Emirates gives Stansted a real long haul network.

Emirates' addition of Stansted to its London portfolio from summer 2018 comes as no surprise. The arrival of a major Gulf hubber is overdue and brings to the airport the powerful proposition it has to airports all over the world, often to the chagrin of an incumbent national carrier. Very simply it's one stop daily to almost anywhere in the southern or eastern hemisphere. That's powerful enough and if it becomes twice daily or even more it can be overwhelming. Hence protectionist mutterings in some corners , including currently the USA, but a great reluctance by many governments to do much about it..The benefits /revenue from inbound tourism and business travel are increasingly understood to be worth way more than keeping a creaking legacy carrier alive.

Stansted itself will be delighted. Its longer haul routes so far have been tentative single spokes into the USA usually with secondary fleets . They were never going to be game changers. Emirates is exactly that. It offers half the world to a substantial market located within an arc sweeping from central London , including the Canary Wharf financial centre, through Essex, East Anglia including Cambridge, and anywhere east of the A1 and East Coast Main Line.That's a lot of people and a lot of money.

This will be one to watch. Assuming Stansted launches successfully will Emirates quickly double their frequency, partly to discourage imitators, or will we see Qatar or Etihad join the fray? Our guess is that these will spectate for while and see what happens before making any move. Turkish, always an avid collector of additional spokes, might though just jump the gun with a narrowbody to Istanbul. The game is on.