The on-going row that has pitted European and US carriers against the ME3 (Emirates (EK, Dubai International), Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi International), and Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad International)) carriers has taken a new turn with reports the Dutch government has now placed a moratorium on the latter gaining any more landing and take off slots at Amsterdam Schiphol.

Dutch financial daily Financieele Dagblad says Dutch State Secretary of Infrastructure and the Environment, Wilma Mansveld, told a local news station that she wants further clarification on allegations that the ME3 have been benefiting from both direct and in-direct Gulf state assistance thereby allowing them to unfairly compete with European carriers such as Air France (AF, Paris CDG), KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (KL, Amsterdam Schiphol), and Lufthansa (LH, Frankfurt International).

"I, along with my European colleagues, want to take a tougher stance against the rise of Gulf Carriers in the Middle East if there is talk of unfair competition," she said adding that her government would only consider allocating new Amsterdam slots to the ME3 once a comprehensive aviation treaty between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the European Union (EU) had been finalized. "For now we are keeping the door closed!"

However, neither Emirates nor Etihad said they had received any notification regarding a curbing of their operations in the Netherlands. Emirates serves Amsterdam twice-daily from Dubai International with Etihad operating a daily service from its Abu Dhabi International hub. Qatar Airways will launch its own Amsterdam services from Doha Hamad International later next month.

“There have been no such notifications [of blocking the expansion],” an Emirates spokesman told the UAE's National newspaper in an email. “Under the UAE-Netherlands air services agreement, there are no restrictions on the number of frequencies and the size of aircraft used.”

The dispute was discussed at the third round of the GCC-EU Aviation Dialogue held in Doha last week following which officials from the GCC and the EU agreed to form a working group to deal with the necessary framework for a comprehensive air transport agreement between the two blocs.

“The United Arab Emirates (UAE), along with GCC States, has been committed to the ongoing dialogue with [the] European Commission,” said the head of the GCC delegation, Laila Hareb. “We aim to ink a comprehensive agreement based on liberated skies, all other discussion items can be discussed within this framework."

French transport minister Alain Vidalies has gone on record as saying any such agreement should include provisions allowing member states to monitor potential illegal subsidies and unfair competitive practices.

Across the Atlantic, US carriers American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth), Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson), and United Airlines (UA, Chicago O'Hare) have also lobbied the Obama administration to take the GCC governments of the UAE and Qatar to task over USD42 billion in alleged subsidies the ME3 carriers have received from their governments which, they claim, is in contravention of the Open Skies agreements the US has with the UAE and Qatar.

The ME3 carriers have retaliated in kind claiming US Chapter 11 bankruptcy laws had unfairly benefited the three US carriers to the tune of USD71.5 billion.