Derby between Inter and Milan, from this year is also played in the skies: who wins between Qatar and Emirates

The 'Derby della Madonnina' which will be played Sunday (Sept. 22) between two big names in Italian and European soccer, Inter and Milan, will also be the 'Gulf Derby', understood as the Persian Gulf, between two Middle Eastern and global aviation biggies: Qatar Airways and Emirates, who are sponsors of Inter and Milan, respectively..

The former debuted in November 2023 as the 'Official Global Airline Partner' of the Italian champion team, then elevated its role to 'Principal Partner' in the past month of July. However, the Qatar Airways inscription appears on some of the Nerazzurri's training jerseys, but not on their match jerseys.

Emirates, on the other hand, has been the main sponsor of Milan for years now. and the company's name, with just below the words 'fly better,' appears on the front of the Rossoneri's match jerseys (as on those of other major European teams including Real Madrid and Arsenal.

If the outcome of the last derbies on the field does not leave too much room for imagination about the outcome of the match to be played on the grass of San Siro (but in soccer never say never), more uncertain is the outcome of the challenge between the skies Between the two sponsoring companies.

Let's see then how the two 'Gulf biggies' stand in terms of stadiums (the airports), formations (the fleets) and trophies (the awards).

Since Doha opened the Hamad International Airport, with Dubai International is no match: even at the World Airports Awards 2024 by Skytrax, Doha has surpassed its rival, placing first as the world's best airport, with Dubai International still ranked seventh in the world (have at it...).

As for passenger traffic, however Dubai is clearly ahead of Doha: nearly 87 million passengers passed through there in 2023 (second largest in the world), compared to nearly 46 million at Doha (37th largest airport in the world).

If we look at the passengers carried, both airlines are far behind the global top 10, which ended with Turkish Airlines with 71.8 million passengers in 2023: Emirates, however, is in front with 43.6 million, Qatar Airways 31.7 million.

Turning to the formations, there is a substantial draw, with Qatar Airways' fleet of 260 aircraft (passenger and cargo) versus Emirates' 259. If you go to look at the average age of the aircraft, the Qatari carrier leads by a small margin: 9.6 years vs. 10.4 of Emirates, which, however, is about to receive A350s..

Looking at subscriptions, i.e., the frequent flyer programs, there is no match because Qatar Airways has been in the Oneworld and thus its Privilege Club allows you to accumulate and spend Avios, which is the common 'currency' of so many companies.

Emirates, on the contrary, continues in its policy of non-affiliation with any international alliance, and thus the benefits to members of its Skywards program are limited to companies with which it has codeshare relationships (flydubai, Air Canada, United Airlines, Qantas the main ones).

We conclude the derby by looking at the palmares: If there is no match between Milan and Inter Milan, with the Rossoneri being by number of trophies won the second soccer team in the world after the unreachable Real Madrid and counting seven Champions Leagues against the 'cousins' three, in the skies the dominance is all Qatar Airways, which at the latest Skytrax Awards was awarded 'Best Company in the World' and for the 'Best Business Class in the World'.

Emirates defended itself well, placing third globally. However, Qatar Airways is One of the ten companies in the world that can boast the 5 Skytrax Stars, while Emirates of Stars has four.

The Dubai-based company, however, excels (and has done so for many, many years now) when it comes to inflight entertainment: its Ice is in fact undeniably the best and richest IFE in the world, with QR's Oryx One still coming in third place and has also been firmly on the podium in the category for years now.

The 'Madonnina derby of the skies' would appear to be won by Qatar Airways, albeit far less sharply than the results that on the soccer field saw Inter prevail over Milan. All that remains to be seen is whether at the San Siro, this time, things will go differently.

• derby
• inter
• milan