EK to Dallas and Seattle?
 

Bllomberg TV just reporting that TC has announced flights to Dallas and Seattle. Anyone know more?

Edit....just answered my own question

Emirates Adds Seattle, Dallas Flights in U.S. Challenge - Bloomberg

Awesome.... now Vancouver visitors and residents can fill it up! :ok:

Yup...way to go Harper! (and your AC stooges...) now all those Canadian $$$ flow south across the border...again...

Stand firm Canada, don't let the bastards in. Once you let them in you will never be able to get rid of them and we all know how they treat employees.

It will be interesting to see if the current rostering restriction is dropped. As you know, for the last 14 years all the fiendishly difficult B777 flights from Seattle to Dubai were crewed exclusively by persons whose name began with "Al" and occasionally by the tennis partners of those whose names began with "Al".

Do you think the rest of us may get a go after March?

Swan Man,

Just admit it, AC has a craaaap product in comparions to EK's (especially the A380 product). Too bad Canadians have to suffer with bad connections and inconvenience to get to many of their desired destinations in the ME, India and the rest of South Asia... AC obviously can't compete!

Emirates airline pushing Boeing to update 777
 

:ok:
By Dominic Gates
Seattle Times aerospace reporter

Tim Clark, president of Middle Eastern airline giant Emirates, has lavish expansion plans that should help both Boeing and the Pacific Northwest region to grow.

With Emirates already the largest operator of big 777 widebodies in the world, he'll visit Seattle on Monday to meet with Lars Andersen, Boeing's head of 777 advanced development. Clark is working closely with Andersen on Boeing's key project to design an updated 777.

Although Boeing has its hands full right now, Clark is pushing the company for a 777 revamp no later than 2018. He's demanding a 777 that will carry more passengers, fly farther and be 10 to 15 percent cheaper to operate.

"That's the task we set them," Clark said "And my goodness, they are moving on this."

As for the region, Emirates will soon fly 777s in and out of Seattle daily. In a phone interview Wednesday, Clark said the newly announced service from SeaTac to Dubai, starting March 1, will open up the city to the Middle East, Africa, India and other parts of Asia.

"We'll open the door," Clark said. "People will see what we are doing and move with us."

Boeing intends to bump up production of the 777, its most lucrative widebody program, to an unprecedented 100 jets per year by early 2013.

Airbus has no rival to the 777 but is preparing one — the mostly composite A350-1000. At the Paris Air Show in June, Airbus announced a two-year delay in that program until 2017 to give Rolls-Royce time to develop a new, bigger engine to power its jet.

That gives Boeing a little more time, too. But Clark said his older 777s will be retired in 2017 and he wants Boeing's upgraded version to replace them.

The 777 revamp will likely include a new 787-style carbon fiber-reinforced plastic composite wing that will save weight, Clark said.

"If they can get a ton or two out of the wing by going with composites, this is something they really ought to be getting on with," he said. "The industry is very, very hungry for technological advances to improve the cost of operation, particularly in fuel."

Happily for Boeing, Clark wasn't happy with Airbus' A350-1000 announcement in Paris, which he said was done without consulting him in advance.

He said Rolls is making a presentation on its proposed new engine for the Airbus jet to his engineers in Dubai on Thursday. But he's doubtful the latest design will be powerful enough for such a big airplane in the very hot temperatures and low-pressure conditions of Dubai in the summer.

Nevertheless, Clark said both Boeing and Airbus will emerge from all their current struggles with new airplanes with technology that greatly advances aviation.

Clark won't be ordering Boeing's newest widebody jet, the freshly delivered 787 Dreamliner, which is too small for his needs. But because its new technologies will transfer to the 777, he's paying close attention to its introduction into service.

Clark said the Japanese domestic routes will be a tough test, with short, full flights into busy airports where luggage carts and food carts will bang into the airplane. How will the composite skin and all the new airplane systems hold up?

"Everybody, including Boeing, is watching that with a magnifying glass," he said. "They'll learn from all of that. Everything will be plowed back into design and development at Boeing."

In the end, he said, the Dreamliner will be a great airplane. Looking back in 10 years, Boeing will conclude that, "Yes, it took a lot of pain; but now we have the platforms of technology on which we can do other things," Clark said.

And by then, Emirates could be much bigger than it is now, dominating the airlines of the world.

The U.S. expansion announced Wednesday, with new flights from Dubai to both Seattle and Dallas, comes as the world economy teeters on the brink of recession.

"It's not a good time," Clark admitted, "but when is?"

He said Emirates will take delivery of 52 widebody jets in the next 20 months — 777s from Boeing and A380 double-decker, superjumbos from Airbus — and "come hell or high water, nothing is going to stop us bringing those airplanes in."

London-based veteran airline consultant John Strickland said Seattle's gain is Vancouver's loss.

Emirates was keenly interested in expanding into Vancouver, B.C., but was blocked by the Canadian aviation authorities to protect Air Canada.

As a result, Seattle may see a boost in both business and tourist travel.

Strickland said Emirates has tended to expand business at all the airports it has gone into, generating new traffic.

When Emirates started flying to Shanghai, he said, unexpected traffic growth arose from Chinese businessmen and engineers traveling to Africa. When it opened its flights to São Paulo, Brazil, Japanese travelers filled planes en route to the thriving Japanese community there.

In India, said Strickland, Emirates has become the de facto national airline. "They are where Air India would have been if it had been better managed," he said.

Clark said he expects a healthy traffic between Seattle-area software companies and the "silicon areas" of India where software is a big export.

And of course, jet-setting Boeing executives will likely also be big users of the Emirates business-class cabins out of Seattle.

"They ought to be," said Clark. "I'll be telling them in no uncertain terms."

Here's another interesting article from MarketWatch yesterday.

By Doug Cameron
The head of Emirates Airline said Tuesday that it will add three more U.S. destinations in 2012 and within five years could be serving more than 10 cities, all with its ultra-large Airbus A380.
The carrier plans to start flights to Dallas and Seattle from its Dubai base early next year, boosting the number of destinations in what has been its fastest-growing market to six from four, with another yet-to-be-identified destination to be announced shortly.
The Americas remains the smallest region for the world's largest international airline by traffic, and the economic crisis and the wait for deliveries of ultra-long range aircraft had delayed expansion beyond its existing flights to New York, Houston, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Tim Clark, the airline's president, said another four or U.S. five destinations were being eyed, with the region likely blanketed over the next three to five years by A380 service. The plane is currently only flown to the U.S. on one of its twice-daily New York flights.
"My own view is that the A380 would do most of the U.S. operations," said Clark in an interview. Airbus will launch a new version of the plane next year with more range.
Emirates will start a daily flight to Dallas-Fort Worth on Feb. 2, with the Seattle service launched on March 1, both using Boeing Co. (BA) 777 aircraft.
The choice of Dallas-Fort Worth and Seattle surprised some U.S. airline executives, with Chicago, Boston and Washington D.C. seen by some as more likely choices, but Emirates pointed to demand in the two cities created by the energy, tech and aerospace sectors.
The impact of the U.S. expansion is being closely watched by the industry as some European airlines continue to protest against Emirates' development in the region, claiming the airline is sucking business through its Dubai hub with the assistance of unfair government subsidies, a charge the company vehemently denies.
U.S. carriers, with the exception of Delta Air Lines Inc., (DAL) have so far stopped short of voicing criticism, and United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL) CEO Jeff Smisek last month praised the airline and Dubai's aviation policy, drawing comparison with the perceived absence of support for the industry from the U.S. administration.
Smisek's remarks were notable because of the fierce stand taken against Emirates by Deutsche Lufthansa AG (DLA.XE), United's partner in the Star alliance.
The Americas was Emirates' fastest-growing region in the year to March 31 with revenue up 37.9%, while sales in its largest geographical area of operations--east Asia and Australasia--rose by 30.9%. Sales in the Americas lagged those on flights to Africa, where it serves 19 cities with plans to add two more early next year.
Transfer traffic through Dubai accounts for around 60% of the airline's total business, with passenger numbers up 15% to 31.4 million over the past year, and cargo rising almost 12%.
Clark said business was holding up, with passenger load factors in the "low 80s" last week, and cargo "keeping its head above water".
Emirates and rivals such as Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways have capitalized on their geographical location to use new long-range aircraft to funnel business through their hubs.

Teahid. Strange indeed.

awww, what happened to the story that the 380 only does short haul and turns?? who pulled that out of his a@#e?

Look at B787, now performing short haul in Japan. Will be interesting to watch how far out it goes and how quickly, as its in-service experience increases.

Which means more freighter destinations. All that speed, comfort and "emvironment" comes at a price.

"double the pax"? Wow, they have a 700 seater for ULR now?

Halas

Todays figures for the JFK flights:

777 time 13:14 fuel 105.0 payload 34t

380 time 13:09 fuel 167.4 payload 32t


.....

380 load is very low today, compare the max weights

Agreed, but this is not particular to 380s only!


It's just a snapshot, but snapshots sort of expose the bragging....


today the 380 was not 30 minutes faster
today the majority of passengers preferred the T7
today the 380 did not transport double the passengers
today the T7 used much less fuel per payload


If you brag, you have to take the flak.

If the whale is full, it makes money, if not it burns it.
We will see if we can adequately fill them to all of the the USA.

Or else, good bye high profit share ......

'Or else, goodbye high profit share'

I like an optimist, but in the current climate, ANY profit share next year will be a bonus.

When is EK going to change the seats on the 330? My back hurts and the IFE sucks. Flew back on the T7 and so much better with an excellent IFE.....

fishy,
does the 777 make money when its empty?

who cares, TC decides what and where we fly to and thats it.

they have guys who plan and crunch numbers all day long with information we will never get, I am sure they know what they are doing, if not they get fired.

does it really upset you that yours is smaller?

Glofish....Snapshot my arse!

Oh dear sandhound, how little you know about what comes out of Toulouse or Seattle.
Heres a thought, how about you have a quick chat to the line engineers? Or perhaps the fellas that do the heavy C and D checks.
To a man, they prefer to work on the american assembled product, and why you ask? Because its not been designed, built, or engineered with scant regard to tried and proven engineering principles, i.e. simplicity is often the best solution.
As for the 380 vs 777 debate, last time I checked they paid the same, so it comes down to whether you get a thrill out of saying "super" as often as possible and in that regard I know where I sit.