Dubai Airports CEO has dismissed suggestions that the Dubai-based Emirates Airline received government subsidisation and preferential treatment at the airport.

In a statement issued in response to the recent comments and media coverage emanating from France and Canada,  Paul Griffiths said: “The only thing Dubai is guilty of is providing an environment that actually supports aviation.”

“Dubai Airports and Dubai Air Navigation Services offer the same competitive rates and charges to all airlines. That, combined with the UAE’s open skies policy and the attractiveness of Dubai as a business and leisure destination, is why we have 130 airlines operating into one of the fastest growing airports in the world,” he said.

“Most governments around the world treat aviation as a pariah, choking its growth with costly, misdirected regulation, instead of adopting policies that recognise its considerable socio-economic benefits and support its sustainable growth. They then compound the problem with parasitic forms of taxation that usually flow straight out of the sector,” he added.

“In Dubai aviation is embraced as a strategic imperative. Another key to its success has been equal treatment of airlines,” Griffiths continued. -TradeArabia News Service