Emirates to expand

[Flatpack]

Emirates are building a new airport even though terminal 3 of the existing one still isnt quite finished, its going to be huge, 6 takeoff runways and 6 landing.

They have also just ordered a new Airbus every month for the next 5 years, thats on top of the eighty triple sevens they have also ordered and there is an option of forty more triple sevens after that.

I guess the worlds biggest airline is on its way.

[Jimslim]

Around 3 or 4 years ago they had some of the best prices around for UK flights to Thailand , I flew quite a few times out of Glasgow and Newcastle then for some reason the prices went crazy whilst Eva and Thai stayed roughly the same .

You can get a direct flight with Eva and Thai cheaper than an indirect one with Emirates .

Hopefully this will change as they are a good airline in general .

[rxpharm]

The major challenge for their expansion plans will be pilots and aircrew to staff these planes. There is already a shortage of pilots/aircrew for the current expansion of other airlines and these upcoming plans may have to be drawn out over a greater length of time.

[SLBT]

I think the adage of better salary across the board, staff benefits and the like will entice more pilots and cabin crew over.. I fly with them quite alot and have never had a bad flight with them yet.... touch wood lol

[deepthroat]

Emirates has begun direct service to Dubai from Seattle. Since that's still the closest international airport to me, that could be good news.

I currently have to fly to Seattle, then to LA, Vancouver, or San Francisco to hop on a Cathay flight to Hong Kong then on to BKK. I use Alaska Airlines frequent flier miles as Cathay is a partner airline.

Alaska says they will begin partner award travel with Emirates late this year or early next year, which should prove to be fantastic. A flight direct to Dubai then direct to BKK would save me a number of hours, and I'd love to try their much vaunted service.

Only question is how many FF miles it will cost for business class, and when the program will start.

[mardhi]

Emirates has begun direct service to Dubai from Seattle. Since that's still the closest international airport to me, that could be good news.

I currently have to fly to Seattle, then to LA, Vancouver, or San Francisco to hop on a Cathay flight to Hong Kong then on to BKK. I use Alaska Airlines frequent flier miles as Cathay is a partner airline.

Alaska says they will begin partner award travel with Emirates late this year or early next year, which should prove to be fantastic. A flight direct to Dubai then direct to BKK would save me a number of hours, and I'd love to try their much vaunted service.

Only question is how many FF miles it will cost for business class, and when the program will start.

Emirates has begun direct service to Dubai from Seattle. Since that's still the closest international airport to me, that could be good news.

I currently have to fly to Seattle, then to LA, Vancouver, or San Francisco to hop on a Cathay flight to Hong Kong then on to BKK. I use Alaska Airlines frequent flier miles as Cathay is a partner airline.

Alaska says they will begin partner award travel with Emirates late this year or early next year, which should prove to be fantastic. A flight direct to Dubai then direct to BKK would save me a number of hours, and I'd love to try their much vaunted service.

Only question is how many FF miles it will cost for business class, and when the program will start.

A lot more than you use to go over the Pacific is the general statement. Pacific routings are much less miles which is how airlines work these things out for redemption's. Based on historic rules going back donkey's years, airfares mile per mile are much cheaper via the Pacific than they are via the Atlantic for anyone who actually has to pay real cash. Having said that - its just a general statement - fares from the UK to Australia are very low compared to other routes, which is why the likes of BA much prefer to do 7 hour flights LON-NYC than LON-SYD - 2 times higher fares and 3 times less distance and just need one aircraft to do 2 rotations (this is the big killer, as well as fuel).

[Grinder]

The new Dubai World airport - pretty much just a few miles from my Dubai location - has been in mothballs for a few years now. Decked out in all its finery, it had a bells and whistles press day before the arse fell out of the world and it was put on ice...

Terminal 3 still struggles to cope with EK flights (leaving many grumbling when the flight they have checked in for at T3 is slotted in to a T1 gate and a subsequent lengthy hike), while the Business Class lounge is heaving at peak times.

EK is now making it more difficult to retain gold status with fewer frequent flyer miles available, while the prices out of Dubai are mental compared to buying in Thailand (e.g J Class return DXB-BKK-DXB will set you back over 90,000 baht when bought in Dubai with the equivalent BKK-DXB-BKK ticket costing just 61,000 if bought in Thailand).

It's booming, no doubt, but more and more sand dwellers are opting for Qatar Airways these days so time will tell if EK's management take it on board and stop with the add ons (2000 baht to change a ticket date now as opposed to free just a few months back).

So far we've had two five day sales in the past two months with another Ramadan sale just last week... maybe those seats aren't filling as well as they used to on certain routes.

As for the 'old' Dubai Airport.... a few years back I interviewed a head honcho (Emirati) within the Dubai Airport organisation. When asked what would happen to the current airport (spruced up at a cost of squillions) when Dubai World opened, he simply shrugged, waved his hand casually and said: "It will close..."

Got to love that pre-crash attitude.