If there was any need to show how serious a threat the Gulf carriers have become to the club of legacy airlines, then the Big Six airline groups in the U.S. and Europe could not have come up with more impressive action: In December, Air France-KLM and Lufthansa Group wrote a letter to the European Commission (EC) asking it to ensure fair competition. While they did not exactly specify what they wanted, it was clear they want traffic rights withdrawn from Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways.