Title: Low cost carriers versus traditional carriers and its impact on financial performance: a comparative study on the UAE airlines companies

Authors: Sherine Farouk; Jacob Cherian; Ingy Shaaban

Addresses: College of Business Administration, Abu Dhabi University, P.O. Box 59911, Abu Dhabi, UAE ' College of Business Administration, Abu Dhabi University, P.O. Box 59911, Abu Dhabi, UAE ' College of Management and Technology, Arab Academy for Science and Technology, Egypt

Abstract: The initial appearance of US low-cost carriers forced incumbents to create new forms of competitive advantage. However, these hindrances proved to be successful for nearly two decades. In any case, a new report by the NBK capital, an investment bank based in Kuwait, recorded that in the Middle East, especially in the Gulf region, the low cost carrier sector has established itself as a thriving industry with lots of potential in hardly four years. This paper endeavours to highlight some of the differences between the two markets and it gives an explanation as to how the advantages of the Middle East low cost airlines would be enough to bypass the financial performance of the traditional carriers.

Keywords: financial performance; Middle East; low cost carriers; airline industry; UAE.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVCM.2017.089375

International Journal of Value Chain Management, 2017 Vol.8 No.4, pp.325 - 341

Received: 03 Feb 2016
Accepted: 30 Nov 2016
Published online: 22 Jan 2018 *

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