EK A380 repairs update

17 May 2013 Source - FlightGlobal

Wing modification work on Emirates' Airbus A380 fleet has begun around two months later than planned due to late arrival of new aircraft.

The repair programme, designed to address wing cracks, will cover 34 Emirates A380s and is due to be completed by the end of next year.

"The modifications were due to begin in mid-March, but the first aircraft only went into modification in early May," says Tim Clark, president of the Dubai-based carrier. "We need to receive the new aircraft to backfill the fleet and maintain the route network when we release A380s for modification. There's been quite a long delay driven by the lateness of delivery of the new aircraft."

The impact of not looking after your staff

12 May 2013

So Emirates did not pay a staff bonus this year. It did not last year either.

The profit share is based on sharing profit in excess of a predefined target. For 2011/12 the target was simply silly.

For 2012/2013 it was a stretch but achievable. At the half year the group was on target. Then something happened in the last six months that left the group well short of target.

It is no great secret that as a privately held company Emirates accounts are not held to the same level of scrutiny as a public company. The reporting requirements are not as onerous. Though the group does publish its annual report.

That said the net profit can be managed and that appears to have happened this year.

The profit target was not met. No token bonus was paid. Yet the Group made close to US$1 billion in net profit.

Emirates fluctuating fortunes

10 April 2013

Emirates announced its full year results today for the year to 31 March 2013.

Profit soars 52% cooed Reuters. The rest of the media followed. What no one has asked is what happened in the last six months of 2012/2013 and why for two years in a row has the Emirates Group failed to meet its targets leaving some 50,000 staff upset at not receiving any profit share.

Rule 1. Set realistic targets! Rule 2. Do not load provisions into the second half of the year.

DXB's 2014 crisis

29 April 2013

We are a year away from a very difficult time for the airlines using DXB.

The Northern runway 12L/30R is to be completely strengthened and re-surfaced. New taxiways will be added as well and new lighting installed.

Before work on the North runway starts the airport will complete access improvements to the Southern runway (12R/30L).

This will mean almost three months of single runway operations. It may be longer. All this work will be carried out during Ramadan in 2014 and that is notoriously a time that truly slows down all work in Dubai.

Emirates meets its Waterloo

11 April 2013

Emirates Airline has announced that it will begin operating a daily flight to Stockholm, Sweden from 4th September 2013.

Consistently voted in the world’s top ten places to live and work, Stockholm is famous for offering visitors a vibrant and diverse cityscape. Sweden is well known for iconic global brands such as IKEA, Volvo, and fashion clothing brand H&M.

The new service will provide welcome connections to the Swedish winter travelers; many of whom head for Thailand where Emirates currently operates six flights per day.”

Emirates goes transatlantic - again

8 April 2013

Dubai-based Emirates Airline said it has received approval from the Italian Civil Aviation Authority to launch direct flights between Milan and New York commencing on October 1.

Operated by a Boeing 777-300ER, the service will originate in Dubai with passengers then able to enjoy a stopover in Milan en-route to New York. On the return flight, passengers will have the option of stopping in Milan before continuing on to Dubai.

"Operating a trans-Atlantic route has been on our agenda for some time," said Tim Clark, President Emirates. "Having carefully monitored traffic flows we have identified strong demand for both a direct connection and, importantly, for the Emirates product. The route is currently underserved, particularly with a strong premium product offering this is where we see a clear opening for Emirates. We intend to capitalise on this opportunity, stimulating further demand and encouraging additional traffic flow in both directions,"

Emirates has previously flown transatlantic from Hamburg to New York.

Qantas and Emirates launch their alliance

31 March 2013

Qantas and Emirates marked the official launch of their partnership today with two A380s flying in tandem over the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The planes flew over the bridge at about 1,500 feet (450 metres).

The planning was complex and included seeking approval from safety regulators in both Australia and the United Arab Emirates."

Pilots from both airlines completed dozens of special simulator training sessions since January.

The aircraft took off from Sydney airport early Sunday, flying north along the coast, then south and slightly out to sea, before turning and cruising over the city, passing the Opera House and flying over the Harbour Bridge.

Qantas Emirates alliance gets approval but hardly a ringing endorsement

27 March 2013

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has given the final go-ahead to Qantas's global alliance with Emirates, and ACCC chairman Rod Sims has imposed only one condition - the airlines must maintain the services they are currently running across the Tasman Sea to New Zealand. They account for about two thirds of the total passenger capacity on the route, and Mr Sims wants to ensure that services are not cut back.

The ACCC press release is here.

The alliance also has just a five year initial approval. But both airlines will look different in five years so will likely welcome the opportunity to re-assess the relationship.

Emirates founder retires

23 March 2013

"After more than 60 enterprising years in aviation, including 35 years in the Emirates Group, Sir Maurice Flanagan, Executive Vice Chairman, Emirates Airline & Group, has decided to retire in April.

Maurice joined dnata in 1978, after 25 years of stellar service in British Airways. Tasked with launching Emirates in 1985 with a small, enthusiastic team of experts, he led from the front as Managing Director of the fledgling airline.

By then, Maurice was already an influential aviation veteran, while I had recently graduated from university. Since those early days, he has been a mentor and guide, and I will always cherish the instant chemistry we shared and the subsequent friendship we forged through the years.

EK's cargo division off to JXB

16 March 2013

Emirates will transfer its cargo fleet from Dubai International Airport to Dubai World Central Airport (DWC), Emirates president Tim Clark told ATW on the sidelines of the ITB tourism fair in Berlin.

A truck system will be established between the two airports to handle Emirates’ belly cargo from its passenger aircraft and vice versa. “It is necessary that the current airport must provide that relief [from busy Dubai Airport to DWC],” he said.

Those trucks will have to use the 611 Outer Dubai by-pass road.

Middle East is new global travel crossroads

5 March 2013 Scott Mayerowitz, AP Airlines Writer

It's 1 a.m. and the sprawling airport in this desert city is bustling. Enough languages fill the air to make a United Nations translator's head spin.

Thousands of fliers arrive every hour from China, Australia, India and nearly everywhere else on the planet. Few venture outside the terminal, which spans the length of 24 football fields. They come instead to catch connecting flights to somewhere else.

If it weren't for three ambitious and rapidly expanding government-owned airlines — Emirates Airline, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways — they might have never come to the Middle East.

For generations, international fliers have stopped over in London, Paris and Amsterdam. Now, they increasingly switch planes in Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi, making this region the new crossroads of global travel. The switch is driven by both the airports and airlines, all backed by governments that see aviation as the way to make their countries bigger players in the global economy.

Now it is The Emirates Old Trafford - Emot !?

28 February 2013

The football and cricket grounds of Old Trafford will officially be known by different names for the first time since 1936 as the result of a 10-year sponsorship deal struck by Lancashire with Emirates Airline to help the club pay for their stadium's substantial redevelopment.

The deal means that the Emirates name will be attached to two of this summer's five Ashes Test grounds, as the airline has held naming rights to Durham's ground in Chester-le-Street for the past three years – so the third Test will be at Emirates Old Trafford, the fourth at the Emirates Durham International Cricket Ground, and the fifth at the Kia Oval.

The Emirates Air Line – London's £60m white elephant

19 February 2013 The Guardian

The capital's cable car was trumpeted as a state-of-the-art commuter link, but has failed to live up to expectations

Age: Eight months.

Appearance: White elephant.

Don't you mean whizzy, state-of-the-art cable car masterminded by London mayor Boris Johnson and sponsored by the Emirates airline? I know exactly what I mean.

EK to Clark from October

18 February 2013

I cannot be the only Emirates watcher who is surprised by this new flight; as today EK announced a new daily Dubai – Clark (Philippines) two Class Boeing 777-300ER service which will  commence on October 1st this year.

Jet/Etihad deal may boost Emirates

12 February 2013

There have been no changes to the UAE/India air rights bilateral for the last five years. Talks will re-open in May this year. And the proposed Etihad/Jet Airways deal may be the catalyst to change.

Etihad Airways, is reported to be finalising a deal where it will pick up 24 percent stake in India’s Jet Airways.

Emirates has been seeking much greater access to Indian aviation market for years. The airline is capped on both the total number of seats and flights. As of now, the airline is permitted 54,200 seats a week through 185 flights from 10 Indian cities. The A380 is also blocked from India.

Live ICE on Emirates

8 February 2013

Emirates has launched ‘ice TV Live’ as part of its on-going efforts to provide the latest in on-board entertainment. Emirates will now offer up to four channels of as-it-happens television viewing.

Ice TV Live offers passengers four TV channels to select from: BBC World News in English, BBC Arabic, Euronews and, for sports fans, Sport24 - a channel dedicated to major sports events around the world.

Emirates sports sponsorships

8 February 2013

The Gulf Airlines now dominate the world of sports sponsorship. Emirates led, but Qatar has an enormous check book - focused on the build up to the 2022 World Cup. And Etihad has adopted Manchester City and Melbourne's Etihad stadium.

Here is a list of all Emirates sports sponsorships:...

Air hub wars - Dubai v Istanbul

29 January 2013

The biggest threat to Dubai's dominance of international air travel may not be Abu Dhabi or Qatar. It certainly is not Singapore. But it may soon be Istanbul. In addition to the very rapid growth of Turkish Airlines the country has launched a tender to build the world's largest airport in Istanbul at an estimated cost of over 7 billion euros ($11.3b), an official from the country's airports authority said.

The project foresees the construction of a six-runway airport eventually capable of handling 150 million passengers per year, Transport Minister Binali Yildirim said.

That would far outpace Hartsfield-Jackson airport in the US city of Atlanta, which is currently the world's busiest with over 90 million passengers likely to have been served in 2012.

Plans are to have operating by 2016 facilities capable of handling some 100 million passengers per year at an expected cost of over 7 billion euros.

Meanwhile Dubai will still be operating out of the creaking DXB until sometime in the mid 2020s as a result of slowing down the development of the new Al Maktoum airport.

Emirates announces Haneda

28 January 2013

Main fleet crew will be happy with this announcement as Emirates is to add daily non-stop flights to Tokyo’s Haneda airport from June 3, its third Japanese destination.

Currently Tokyo's Narita airport is served by a daily A380 flight.

The carrier will serve Tokyo's convenient Haneda airport with a three-class B777-200LR aircraft, featuring eight first class suites, 42 angled lie-flat business class seats and 216 seats in economy.

Emirates airline’s plans for taking over the globe

(Anyone with a more than passing interest in Emirates will know that there is nothing new here - even the suggestion of 30 additional A380s is already a year old - and EK would never hold 120 A380s as early models of the airliner would be phased out by the time the last airframes have been delivered)

8 January 2013 by David Fickling, Bloomberg

Emirates, the airline with the most international traffic, said it wants to extend its alliance with Qantas Airways Ltd. across the Pacific Ocean, allowing passengers to fly around the world on Airbus SAS A380s.

The carriers have scope to link Qantas’s A380 flights into Los Angeles with routes the Gulf carrier seeks to operate from its Dubai hub, Emirates President Tim Clark said in a phone interview. The partnership won provisional approval from Australia’s antitrust regulator last month.

“If the timing is right and the two aircraft meet, with Qantas and Emirates you could go around the world with A380s,” he said yesterday. “I’m sure we could do trans-Pacific business on Qantas metal as part of this overall deal.”

Emirates would push for the alliance’s extension into trans-Pacific routes only if Qantas’s Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce and his management back the idea, Clark said. Shares of the Sydney-based airline have risen more than 40 percent since the partnership was announced in September, as Joyce restructures operations to end overseas losses.

Emirates 2013 - time to speculate

28 December 2012

EK has just taken ownership of its 30th ad 31st Airbus A380; there are approximately 15 more to be delivered next year. The 777s keep arriving on a regular basis as well with some 15 77Ws dues next year.  So why isn't the network expanding as quickly as the fleet grows?

EK will be taking up to four 380s out of service at a time to fix wing crack problems for up to two months at a time in 2013. So the A380 route expansion is limited to the lower number of available machines.

It also looks like some of the 343s, and 332s will stay in service though 2013 to provide capacity. The long awaited opening of Concourse A will also help DXB and Emirates as well as improving the airport's mage. Passengers do not like buses from and to remote gates.

EK-Qantas deal gets cautious go-ahead

20 December 2012

The Australian competition regulator has given a tentative nod of approval to Qantas’s close alliance with Emirates but knocked the airlines back on their request for a 10-year timeframe for their deal.

In a boost to the Australian airline’s fortunes, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission today released a draft ruling proposing to allow the airlines to co-operate on passenger and freight operations across their networks.

But the regulator has proposed to limit the deal to five years because of concerns about the impact of the alliance on airline competition between Australia and New Zealand.

75 years of open skies

18 December 2012

Dubai has had a muted celebration of 75 years of open skies aviation policy which all started when Captain Hickinbotham, the then British Political Agent in the Trucial States signed the “Dubai Commercial Air Agreement” on July 22, 1937.

The history is interesting, arguably even visionary. And it is told in part in the above video. “During the mid-1930s, His Majesty’s government had been in search of landing bases in the Trucial States for the flying boats of Imperial Airways, largely for the Empire Air Mail Scheme,” Mohammad Ahli, Director-General of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, said while talking about Dubai’s aviation history on Thursday to commemorate the first flight to Dubai at an event held at the La Meridien Dubai.

Emirates airline’s model is a game changer: CAPA chief

3 December 2012 Arabian Business

Gulf airlines have progressively disturbed the global airline equilibrium, said the executive chairman of the Centre for Aviation (CAPA), and added that 2012 was the year that saw “rapid escalation” of this process.

Peter Harbison made these remarks yesterday at the 10th annual CAPA Awards for Excellence at a gala ceremony in Hong Kong, where Etihad Airways President and CEO James Hogan was crowned the CAPA Aviation Executive of the Year while Emirates was named CAPA Airline of the Year – for the third time.

“Emirates has formulated a comprehensive model which has become a game changer, most notably in 2012 as its network density has gone to a new level,” Harbison said.

What is the point of one million fans?

24 November 2012

Emirates actually issued a press release to announce that it had reached one million Facebook fans globally.

The airline hyped "the remarkable traction of Emirates’ Facebook page positions the airline as one of the most rapidly developing social media players around."

Its a bit embarrassing really. A social media player - really. A few guys doing some advertising. There is no interaction.

Emirates has also just launched a Google+ page.

Both social media platforms have been set up to support the airline's evolution from a travel brand to a global lifestyle brand. Folks it is an airline. It gets you from A to B, usually via Dubai.

Emirates claims that it is now one of the most engaged brands, not only in the airline category but amongst other lifestyle brands.

So let's take a different view and some wise counsel from the folks at Simpliflying. Their advice: "you can’t be on social media and not engage your audience. You think the job’s done when you (or your agency) create that Facebook page with a fancy cover photo or even a Twitter profile to put up a show of being social-savvy. It’s not."

Passenger death forces Emirates 777 to divert to Warsaw

24 November 2012

An Emirates Boeing 777 flying from Dubai to Manchester, England, made an emergency stop in Warsaw yesterday after a passenger on board the flight became "fatally ill," Agence France Presse reports.

"Medics boarded the plane after the emergency landing early this morning, but were unable to revive the female passenger," Warsaw Chopin Airport spokesman Przemyslaw Przybylski says to AFP.

"The flight was resumed with the body aboard," he told AF

Emirates half year profit growth

12 November 2012

Emirates Airline posted a net profit of Dhs1.7 billion ($464 million) for the first half of the 2012-13 fiscal year, up 104 per cent from Dhs836 million ($228 million) at the 30 September 2011 half year.

The airline’s revenue, including other operating income, of Dhs35.4 billion ($9.7 billion) was higher by 17 per cent compared with Dhs30.2 billion ($8.2 billion) recorded last year, which reflected a strong passenger yield based on constant high fuel prices, the airline said in a statement.

But the trend is worth noting:  Emirates Airline half year profits - 2012: AED1.7 billion, 2011: AED836 million, 2010: AED3.4 billion, 2009: 752million. While the media is excited about Emirates profit being up 104% in 2012it is still only 50% of the 2010 half year: encouragingly there is a better net profit margin 4.8% (2011: 2.7%).

“Emirates remained focused on its growth and global expansion despite ongoing fluctuating exchange rates and ever lingering high fuel prices which accounted for 39 per cent of our expenditures, down two percentage points from last year,” said HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman and CEO, Emirates Airline and Group.

Emirates says its fleet expanded to 183 planes in the first half of the year — a rise of nearly 16 percent.

Emirates and "engagement"

1 November 2012

Emirates approach to social media is best described as cautious. So far it has avoided using social media to respond to its existing or future customers.

Though that does not stop its social media team from tooting their own trumpet.

Here is one of the team - @arun4 : "Great to see #Emirates on @mashable as airline with highest social media engagement in the world" - Arun links to this Mashable article - "Top 10 Airlines With Highest Social Media Engagement This Week"

John Saydam (@JohnSaydam) who is head of Social Media at Emirates sent out this note earlier in the week - "#Emirates topped this week's chart for #airline brands with the highest #socialmedia engagement. http://mashable.com/2012/10/28/airlines-social-media/ … #avgeeks"

Both messages were widely retweeted.

Trouble is that both messages are being send from personal twitter accounts as Emirates has not yet activated it's official twitter account.

So how can you be the most engaged airline in social media when you do not have a twitter account. Emirates social media does not respond to its customers. At the moment on both facebook and google plus it is little more than an advertiser - with near daily updates to keep brand awareness.

Flying into regulation problems

14 September 2012

The Qantas and Emirates alliance is not a done deal yet. The deal needs regulatory approval and one big obstacle may be Emirates dominance of routes between Australia and the U.K.

Qantas, whose international business is ailing, desperately needs the link-up to help slash costs and extend its reach into both Europe and Asia.

But according to analysts at Macquarie, joining forces with Emirates on the Kangaroo route–which Qantas has been flying since 1947–means the pair would end up with a 42% share of that market segment, and an even bigger slice of the business-class portion.

That will concern Australia’s competition regulators.

Emirates announces Algiers

14 September 2012

Emirates has officially announced a new daily nonstop service to ALG-Algiers, Africa effective 1 March 2013.

Daily flights will be operated using an A330-200 departing DXB at 0845 and arriving back by 0055 the next day. Another flight departing in the morning rush hour!

The launch of our third African route in just 13 months is a further demonstration of the huge potential of this fast-expanding economic region.

Hub power has spoken - or not !

10 September 2012 - Flight Global

"The jumbo jet is among the great legacies of the 1960s to modern air travel - but so is the hub. Through hubs, the US carriers of yesteryear discovered they could vastly broaden their network simply by connecting city pairs through a single key point.

The arrival of long-range, economical types such as the Boeing 777-300ER and the Airbus A380 has set the stage for the Gulf region to become the world's ultimate hub. From this strategic point, long-haul aircraft can fly to virtually any destination, bringing together a staggering array of potential city pairs.

The alliance between Australia's Qantas Airways and Dubai's Emirates is a sharp reminder - if one were needed - of the Arabian peninsula's immense potential. Qantas has suffered losses on international routes for years, with some of the punishment likely coming from Emirates and its Gulf neighbours. The pressure eventually became too great for Qantas, hence what can be viewed as a capitulation. Although Qantas will benefit from its wide-reaching deal with Emirates, which covers everything from codesharing to air miles, the real winner here is Emirates.

Emirates alliance a flying leap of faith

7 September 2012 Sydney Morning Herald

 To Qantas  chief executive Alan Joyce, it is a coup that marks a step change for Australia's de facto national airline.

Not only is it a key to returning Qantas' international premium operations to the black after huge losses over the past year, but a deal that heralds a new era in global aviation.

After failed attempts to set up a premium airline in Asia, a decimated share price and a fare war in its home market, Joyce desperately needed a deal with Emirates to give investors confidence in his leadership.

He delivered that in the form of a ''benefit-sharing'' alliance with Emirates, the Middle Eastern airline which until yesterday had shown a distaste for tie-ups under the leadership of Tim Clark.

Qantas International the winner in Emirates deal

6 September 2012

Qantas and Emirates today announced a new aviation partnership. The highlights are:

It is a 10 Year agreement.
The partnership will commence in April 2013 - subject to regulatory approval.
Qantas will fly daily A380 from SYD-DXB-LHR and MEL-DXB-LHR. They will share Emirates new dedicated A380 concourse.
Qantas will withdraw from the Singapore-Frankfurt route
The Frequent Flyer programs will be aligned.
EK gets codeshare rights on QF domestic flights.
QF gets codeshare rights on EK flights from DXB to Europe and Africa.
Neither airline will take equity in the other.
Qantas will terminate its agreement with British Airways from March 2013 as a result of the Emirates deal.

Aggressive Emirates eyes bigger pie of Indian skies

5 September 2012 FirstPost - India

Emirates wants more of the Indian skies. It is looking at a 52 percent increase in the number of seats on Indian flights, from 54,200 now to 80,000 eventually.

It is already the largest international airline carrying Indians overseas and has been roundly criticised several times in the past for taking away Indian passengers which would have otherwise been flying an Indian airline.

So why does Emirates want more traffic from India, especially when the Indian government has decided against signing fresh air bilateral rights with Gulf countries?

The logic is simple. India is one of the few aviation markets in the world which is underserved and has a vast growth potential in terms of air traffic.Emirates the ‘missing piece in earnings bridge’ for Qantas

5 September 2012 Sydney Morning Herald

The value to Qantas of a code-share alliance with Middle Eastern airline Emirates has been estimated at up to $90 million a year in pre-tax earnings.

The estimate by Macquarie Equities analysts comes as the Emirates chief executive, Tim Clark, visits Sydney this week, fuelling further speculation that the Dubai-based airline is on the verge of signing an alliance with Qantas covering routes between Australia and Europe.

The code-share agreement is believed to include route swaps whereby Emirates would operate the majority of flights on some routes, such as those out of Perth to Europe.

Critics say Qantas is acting from a position of weakness in pursuing a code-share deal, and risks handing passengers to Emirates without significant benefits.

The EK/QF speculation continues

1 September 2012

Emirates and Qantas had better announce something later this week or a lot of armchair analysts will have wasted a great deal of time speculating what this deal could be:

Two obvious issues:

Key for Qantas is stemming the losses in its international division.

Secondly flying to anywhere in continental Europe via London is miserable. Yet this has been at the heart of Qantas' kangaroo route services. Travelers have long abandoned London as a waste of time and money and instead flown to Europe through Singapore or the Middle East.

Middle Eastern carriers move in

1 September 2012 - The Sydney Morning Herald

The intimidating growth of Middle East carriers such as Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways, has sent the market share of full-service airlines - think Qantas - domiciled in high-labour cost, full-taxing countries into a nose dive.

Recent data published by the Transport Department in Canberra showed that in the Australian aviation market, the combined share of Middle East carriers has grown from less than 1% in the early 90's to more than 11% currently. At the same time, Qantas's share has halved from 40% to 18%.

When economists explain market-share improvements they usually look to cheaper prices or superior products as the key explanatory variables. In the case of Middle East, carriers a case can be made for both, especially at the all-important front of the plane.

Middle East airlines offer some of the cheapest premium seat airfares in the world.

Qantas bets on EK

31 August 2012

The Qantas - Emirates rumours are running wild at the moment. Something will be announced. No one knows quite what it will be.

But Tim Clarke - Emirates CEO - will arrive in Sydney on 5 September. There will follow a number of announcements.

Speculation: The removal of FRA from the QF schedule - Frankfurt and Heathrow are the only European destinations flown by Qantas. Qantas flights to LHR will presumably also be taken over by Emirates - maybe not immediately.

Qantas to codeshare on all Emirates flights to Dubai and onward flights to Europe.

This will not be just a code share - there is more to the deal that simply putting Qantas passengers onto Emirates jets.

Baby EK

29 August 2012

A baby born on Emirates flight 322 to Manila last week has been named Ek;  EK is the two letter flight code for Emirates.

The plane had to make an emergency landing in Vietnam for the Filipina woman and her baby to receive treatment on August 22.

Two nurses and four flight attendants reportedly helped deliver and care for the child, who was premature at 27 weeks. One of the nurses says after seeing the mother in pain, she followed her to bathroom where she found the newborn inside the toilet turning bluish-brown.

Pilots landed the Boeing 777 (EK332) at Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat airport after mid-day on August 22 to offload the Filipina mother, identified as ‘Nedz’, and her new-born son, whom the parents planned to name ‘EK’ (the Emirates airline code), for emergency treatment.

A Qantas and Emirates alliance?

26 July 2012

Talk of an alliance between Qantas Airways and Dubai based carrier Emirates has sent the Australian airline's shares surging 8 percent.

The alliance would help Qantas' loss-making international division by giving it access to greater numbers of passengers from Emirates' hub in the Middle East as well as cutting aircraft and other costs.

A final form of the deal could vary from a straightforward code-share arrangement to a more global revenue-sharing deal, the Australian Financial Review reported, citing unidentified sources. There was no mention of any form of equity investment; which is unlikely.

Qantas confirmed in a statement that it is in talks with number of airlines, including Emirates, about potential alliances but said it would not give further details.

Qatar's UK plans take on Emirates

20 July 2012

In its latest threat to Emirates dominance of flights from the UK to and through the Middle East Qatar Airways has confirmed plans to fly from Birmingham airport after it takes delivery of new aircraft later this year.

The carrier currently operates five services a day from Heathrow and 10 a week from Manchester to its base at Doha.

Akbar Al Baker, Qatar Airways chief executive, confirmed: “We are going to start operating [from Doha] to other UK airports. We will operate to three new destinations in the UK.”

EK flight makes emergency landing after teenager suffers fatal heart attack

18 July 2012

Tragedy struck an Emirati family mid-air when a 19-year-old boy died due to a heart attack aboard an Emirates flight from Dubai to Bangkok forcing the plane to make an emergency landing.

According to Emirates airline, flight EK 374 was diverted to Hyderabad due to a medical emergency in the wee hours of Tuesday. EK 374 is the overnight flight from Dubai to Bangkok leaving Dubai shortly before midnight.

Sorry Emirates but Qatar is world's best

13 July 2012

Qatar Airways was named best in the world in the Skytrax World Airline Awards for the second year running.

The rapidly-growing Gulf carrier retained the title of Airline of the Year 2012 and also notched up awards for Best Airline in the Middle East for the seventh consecutive year and the Best Airline Staff Service award in the Middle East.

Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker hailed the achievements as “fantastic recognition” of all employees at Qatar Airways for the dedication and commitment to their job.

Why other airlines fear EK

6 July 2012

There was a post on the web about the implications of Emirates growth for Qantas; but this could apply to almost any other legacy airline. It even applies to Singapore Airlines and the other Asian carriers.

This is what the note said:

"What Emirates is up to is really serious for Qantas. Emirates is aviation’s largest food chain in operation. It has the world’s largest fleets of A380s and 777s, both in service and on order, and the world’s second largest order for A350s.

The A380s are now swallowing the 777s to cope with its growth on the busiest routes, with the big Airbus replacing the not exactly small 777s on services to Paris, which is going daily double with A380s, as it is reported will New York City, with the biggest airliner in service also replacing a 777 frequency from Dubai to Moscow and apparently to be announced as replacing the Boeing on flights to San Francisco as a result of evolving range and payload improvements.

EK's announces new routes

5 July 2012

Despite the A380 issues that are holding back network expansion Emirates is still planning three additional destinations to be launched in the next six months. There are some interesting timings for these new flights.

From 1st November, Emirates will launch four weekly flights to Adelaide, rising to a daily service from 1st February 2013. Adelaide will be the airline’s fifth destination in Australia which is currently served with 70 flights per week. The big surprise here is that Adelaide will operate non stop from Dubai rather than via the Far East. That will hurt Singapore Airlines who have daily Adelaide to Singapore flights.

The airline’s current double-daily service to Perth will grow to 19 weekly flights from 1st December, becoming a triple daily operation from 1st March next year.

The French city of Lyon will be added to the Emirates’ network from 5th December, the carrier’s third point in France after Paris and Nice. Emirates will operate five weekly flights to this vibrant economic and tourism centre of south eastern France. Lyon has a large Arabic population who will benefit from this new flight.

From 6th February 2013, Emirates will begin flights into Poland, where recently the World Bank predicted the highest economic growth in the Central and Eastern European region. The airline will operate a daily service to the capital, Warsaw.

EK 777 in fire diversion over China

3 July 2012 (avherald and pprune)

You wont see this in Gulf news which is a shame as the crew appear to have done a first class job in dealing with a potentially serious emergency.

An Emirates Boeing 777-300, registration A6-EGQ performing flight EK-308 from Dubai to Beijing (on July 2nd) with 270 people on board, was enroute near Urumqi (China) when the crew received an aft cargo fire indication and activated the cargo fire suppression system. The crew diverted to Urumqi for a safe landing, emergency services found a number of burned bags in the aft cargo hold, the fire had been extinguished by the cargo fire suppression system in flight. No injuries occurred.

Emirates announces Erbil

20 June 2012

A 4.30am turnaround to Erbil is not glamourous; but it does show how the Iraq market is growing.

Emirates Airline announced today that is will launch flights to Erbil from August 12 in what will become the third Iraqi destination served by the Dubai-based carrier.

The service to the capital of Iraq's Kurdistan province will initially run four times a week before becoming daily from September 1.

Emirates London cable car

19 June 2012

The new River Thames cable car, the Emirates Air Line will open on June 28. The Emirates Air Line will open at midday allowing passengers to cross the Thames in just five minutes.

The 1.1km long river crossing, between Greenwich and the Royal Docks, will have the capacity to carry up to 2,500 people per hour in each direction, the equivalent of 30 buses.

Initially it will operate seven days a week, from 7am to 9pm Mondays to Fridays, 8am to 9pm on Saturdays and 9am to 9pm on Sundays. Transport for London (TfL) said the hours would be extended for use during the Olympic Games which starts next month.

380 wings will require an eight week fix

10 June 2012

Flight Global reports that the permanent replacement to the A380 wing cracks will require an eight-week repair downtime for each airplane.

Airbus confirmed that if airlines choose to undertake the repair "nose-to-tail" it will require around eight weeks to implement. However Airbus says that it expects most operators would opt to adopt the phased approach spread out over three two-year heavy checks which is less disruptive. In this case, it expects the repair would extend each two-to-three week heavy check by "a few days".

Emirates, which is the biggest A380 operator with 21 in service, will undertake the repair to each aircraft in one installment. It says the work will require 30,000 man-hours to implement. The Emirates fleet will be repaired in Airbus facilities or by other organisations on Airbus's behalf because the Dubai carrier does not have the capacity to undertake the work in house.

Husband accused of killing Japanese stewardess in Dubai

29 May 2012

The Emirates crew portal had nothing more than a note of condolence on the death of a Japanese cabin crew.

The local media however does pick up the story and provide a little more information. Dubai Public Prosecution told 7DAYS newspaper that a 29-year-old Tunisian man called police saying he had found his 28-year-old Japanese wife in the bathroom at their flat in Al Nahda, Dubai.

EK scales back flights due to A380 delays

29 May 2012

The knock on effect of a slow down, and even a rethink, of A380 deliveries to Emirates is beginning to show across the airlines network.

While the airline is committed to route launches to Ho Chi Minh City, Washington, Barcelona and Lisbon there are also reductions being made elsewhere in the network and no new route announcements.

The first casualty is to reduce frequency on the DXB-LAX route from twice daily to just once daily from August 1st. The airline will be terminating the earlier EK217/218 roundtrip, which is operating with B77W and keep the daily EK215/216, which is currently operated with the B77L.

This is just a few months after reducing Houston to a single daily flight. With LAX there may also have been capacity issues on the route, prompting EK to redeploy the capacity elsewhere in the network.

Will Emirates invest down under?

27 May 2012

Arabian Business reports that Qantas Airways, seeking to turn around losses on international flights, is looking at getting separate licences for its international and domestic businesses amid interest from Emirates Airline in an enhanced tie-up between the carriers.

Qantas has a group looking at whether a split licence would be the best way of running the businesses after announcing a restructure May 22, CEO Alan Joyce told a media event in Sydney on Saturday.

“We’re exploring that as we speak” he said. While Qantas’s constitution and a 1992 Australian law cap foreign investment in the carrier at 49 percent, second-ranked Virgin Australia Holdings recently separated its international and domestic businesses to get around similar rules.

A380 speculation in Dubai

18 May 2012

There is some A380 speculation running around Dubai and it should worry Airbus.

The suggestion is that EK will stop accepting any deliveries of new A380s because of the issues with wing cracks. Apparently the last 3-4 aircraft (two of which are ready for delivery) will be accepted by EK to make the fleet up to 25 A380s in total, but then no further aircraft will be accepted until a permanent fix is found for the A380.

Obviously further speculation points to EK cancelling the remaining A380s in favour of ordering more B777s. This seems unlikely. The A380s generate significant revenue when they are flying and they are hugely popular as a 'flagship' aircraft.

That said, Airbus is expecting one-off charges to implement a retrofit solution to the A380 wing-rib cracking problem to reach €260 million ($330 million) over 2012.

The airframer's parent, EADS, revealed in its first-quarter results that it had already taken a €158 million charge relating to fixing 71 in-service A380s - a fix which, it says, is "more complex" than originally anticipated in March this year.

Emirates profits hit by fuel costs

10 May 2012

Dubai's flagship carrier Emirates reported a 72-percent drop in 2011 profits on Thursday as soaring fuel prices accounted for nearly half of the Gulf carrier's costs.

Emirates reported a profit of 1.5 billion dirhams ($409 million) for the fiscal year ended March 31, compared to profit of 5.4 billion dirhams in 2010.

Revenue at the Dubai government-owned airline was 62.3 billion dirhams in 2011, up 14.9 percent.

The airline's fuel bill rose 44.4 percent in the 2011/2012 to 24.3 billion dirhams, or 40 percent of total costs, it said. Fuel costs had already risen by 41% in the previous year.

Bonuses and Motivation

10 May 2012

So there will be on bonus for Emirates staff this year. Sorry guys - this is a mistake.

The profit target was set at the same level as the 2010/2011 profit. But the target was also set in the middle of the turmoil of the Asian spring. Oil prices were escalating. UN forces were taking on Libya. The one certainty was that fuel prices were going through the roof.

It was the daftest of targets. 2010/2011 was a record year. It was not going to be repeated,

Now Management 101 suggests that if you appreciate and engage your workforce then they will give back even more in monetary value than what you 'spend' on them - whether that be time or money.

EK's message to Etihad

8 May 2012 Arabian Business

"Sir Maurice Flanagan, executive vice chairman and one of the founders of Emirates Airline, said he believed chasing stakes in smaller airlines was “just not worth it” and he hoped the Dubai airline would continue to operate on a solo basis.

While Flanagan did not rule out codesharing agreements, such as its linkup with US carrier JetBlue, he believed Emirates’ acquisition of a stake in SriLankan Airlines proved to be a negative experience for the carrier and it was not one he would like to see it repeat.

“Absolutely not… It eats up an enormous amount of senior management time,” he said in relation to acquiring stakes in smaller carriers. “They want you to develop that airline to be like Emirates.”

While Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways has bought up stakes in a number of international carriers, such as Ireland’s Aer Lingus, Germany’s Air Berlin and Air Seychelles, Flanagan said he hoped the Dubai airline did not follow suit.

Lufthansa v Emirates

8 May 2012

Sir Maurice Flanagan, executive vice chairman and one of the founders of Emirates Airline, has said he is determined to see the Dubai carrier secure further landing rights in Germany, regardless of opposition from domestic carrier Lufthansa.

“Lufthansa hates us with a passion,” Flanagan said of Europe’s second largest carrier.

Emirates has been looking to acquire further landings rights in Germany since 2004, and Flanagan said he was confident the Dubai airline would eventually secure the extra routes as there was sufficient market demand.

“[Lufthansa] can’t touch us in Germany as the government seems to quite like us. Berlin is asking for us; Stuttgard is asking for us and we’ll get them sooner or later,” Flanagan said.

Emirates goes on the offensive

30 April 2012

Emirates Airline has produced a brochure addressing the vexed subject of "Airlines and Subsidy - our position." The 27 page document is online  here.

It is an odd document - undated. Authorship unknown. Was it prepared by Emirates internally or by Oxford Analytics who have done similar work before.

It is also both disjointed and repetitive. Maybe the work of a number of authors. There is no real explanation of the purpose of the document and no executive summary.

Why Flydubai is anything but Emirates lite

25 April 2012 - Flight Global

Flydubai was spawned from Emirates in 2008 as an attempt by Dubai to lure a segment of the travelling public being lost to the large airline's full-service, widebody product. But the low-cost carrier - which launched services in June 2009 with a flight to Beirut - is anything but Emirates-lite. In its early days, the Boeing 737 operator relied on its big sister for most of its back-office functions. Today, however, any visible links with Emirates are few and flydubai has developed its own low-cost infrastructure and a clear identity in the market.

Razorfish to drive Emirates social media

19 April 2012

The Emirates Group has appointed Razorfish to handle its global social media activity after a pitch. Razorfish provides services including digital advertising and content creation, media buying, strategic counsel, analytics, technology and user experience.[

The appointment comes as the global airline group, which has previously lacked an organised social media presence, is turning to Facebook to build an emotional connection with its customers.

Razorfish will create a Facebook page as the first step in establishing the group's social media footprint.

Emirates - Jet Blue code share

19 April 2012

JetBlue and Emirates have announced a codeshare agreement to connect the carriers' networks via New York's John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport.

The two airlines have been interline partners since 2010, enabling customers to enjoy the convenience of a single combined ticket for Emirates and JetBlue-operated flights, plus other benefits including one-stop check-in and baggage transfer.

Emirates seeks way around Heathrow night ban

11 April 2012

The London Evening Standard reported last night that Emirates' A380s could be allowed to land at Heathrow for more than 20 hours a day under plans being considered by ministers.

This is not going to happen; and is really little more than PR for Emirates.

Emirates says that it would like to bypass restrictions on night flights by landing its A380 airbuses — the world’s largest passenger airliners — at steeper angles to protect homes from jet-engine noise. The airline wants permission to fly in and out until 1am every day, restarting flights after 4am.

Immediate problems; there are no rail and subway connections at this time.

EK A380 tyre burst in Hong Kong

7 April 2012 From avherald and others.

Avherald.com is reporting an incident at Hong Kong this afternoon as an Emirates A380 blew two tyres on landing in Hong Kong.

The Emirates Airlines Airbus A380-800, registration A6-EDQ was performing flight EK-384 from Bangkok (Thailand) to Hong Kong (China). The flight landed on Hong Kong's runway 07L at 17:33 local time this afternoon (09:33Z) and exited the runway via high speed turn off A7 stopping just past the hold short line with two blown right hand main tyres. The aircraft was disabled and unable to taxi.

Hello tomorrow again

1 April 2012

I want to like the new branding. But this will take some time! It just shows how good "Keep Discovering" was. This feels like branding by a committee where everyone found the least disagreeable option.

Worse - take the first of the many "o" letters away and you get how most people feel about 10 across long-haul on a 777....

It is a tagline that is too easy to make jokes around - arriving tomorrow; departing tomorrow; delayed until tomorrow; tomorrow never comes - just like my connecting flight.....

"Hello Tomorrow"

27 March 2012

So this is the new Emirates tagline - and advertising campaign. I don't like it and the trouble is I like it less every day!

The new brand platform, led by a global multimedia marketing campaign carrying a “Hello Tomorrow” strapline, aims to position the airline as the “enabler of global connectivity and meaningful experiences”. Yawn. The use of over cliche-ed words does not help.

Emirates wants to evolve its brand from a travel / airline brand to a global lifestyle brand. Not a good start. Emirates is an airline. Emirates has partnered with ad agency "Strawberry Frog" and will launch promotions it feels will represent the spirit of Tomorrow – Tomorrow Brings Us Closer to; New People, New Experiences, New Styles, New Friends.

The airline is also targeting a younger audience, launching its official facebook page at the same time.

Emirates is appealing to a group of global individuals they call ‘globalistas’. Another awful word.

EK to DC

15 March 2012

Emirates announced today that it would start flights to Washington Dulles International Airport from 12th September 2012.

Emirates will operate a Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft on its DC route. This will be Emirates’ seventh U.S. gateway and the third new American route to launch in 2012.

The greater Washington, DC area is highly diverse, with over 15% of its population born outside the US. The region is home to more than 1,000 international institutions and over 1,000 foreign-owned companies from 50 countries.

EK to add 3rd daily to Rome

12 March 2012

Emirates Airline said today that it will boost its operations in Italy this October as the airline adds a third daily flight to Rome.

This will take the total number of flights offered to Italy to 56 a week, the Dubai-based carrier said in a statement.

Starting October 1, EK 099 will be operated by a 237-seat Airbus A330-200, which will also add a total of 15 tonnes of cargo-carrying capacity to the route.

Emirates seeks A380 compensation

9 March 2012

Emirates Airline , the world's largest operator of Airbus's A380 superjumbo, plans to seek compensation from the aircraft maker after complaining of widespread disruption and an expected loss of revenue, the airline's president told the Financial Times on Friday.

Emirates President Tim Clark said the airline expected to lose up to $90 million by the end of March because of the A380 groundings that began in January.

The Financial Times cited Clark as saying that the Dubai-based carrier would be seeking compensation from Airbus.