Rapid growth at Etihad Airways frustrates rivals

Abu Dhabi

EMERGING from the desert like some giant steel squid, the organic forms of Abu Dhabi's new airport terminal are starting to take shape.

The existing airport has become too small for the ambitions of its main tenant, Etihad Airways, the smallest and fastest-growing of the three giant Middle Eastern airlines, whose expansion has sown resentment among the legacy carriers of North America and Europe.

For more than a decade, the Persian Gulf airlines have transformed international travel, focusing on an obsession with service and single-hub connections. They now fly to more foreign destinations and have more international seats than US carriers.

Now, how Etihad operates - especially how it is financed - has become critical in an increasingly contentious battle with airlines and unions in the United States, which accuse gulf carriers of stealing passengers …