Sky Talk

New York loses A380 flight

The "superjumbo" Airbus A380 won't be seen cruising across the New York City skyline any longer, at least for now. Emirates, the Dubai-based airline, is replacing the A380s it flew from JFK Airport to Dubai with smaller Boeing 777 aircraft because of the economic downturn.

The environment probably means an A380 flight from Dallas/Fort Worth Airport is even more unlikely, at least in the short-term. When officials opened the new Terminal D a few years ago, they said it could easily be reconfigured to handle one of the giant planes if the opportunity arose.

- Trebor Banstetter

Emirates to launch first A380 service in U.S.

Emirates Airlines is set to begin the first service in the United States with an Airbus A380, on a flight between Dubai and John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. The 14-hour nonstop flight will launch Aug. 1, the airline said today. The mammoth plane is scheduled to fly three times a week between the two cities.

- Trebor Banstetter

Boeing 787's engines might lose Emirates order

Bloomberg News reports:

Boeing Co. may fail to win a 100-plane order from Emirates because the biggest version of its 787 Dreamliner lacks sufficient power from its General Electric Co. engines, the Middle Eastern airline said.

Boeing’s 787-10, a 310-seat version of the Dreamliner that’s currently undergoing development, doesn’t yet meet Emirates’ needs, President Tim Clark said today in an interview. The Dubai-based airline would operate the plane to destinations including Los Angeles.

“It needs more thrust,” Clark said in the interview in Cannes, southern France. “It’s not a view shared by Boeing, but my instinct tells me it needs more.”

Emirates is weighing the 787-10 against Airbus SAS’s A350-900 and may order as many as 100 planes, worth about $20 billion at list prices, Clark said. Concern about GE’s GEnx engine might mean the carrier won’t reach a decision by the time of the Dubai Air Show next month, when it had intended to make an announcement, he said.

“We’re gratified Emirates is interested in the GEnx,” said Rick Kennedy, a spokesman for Fairfield, Conn.-based GE. “At this juncture it’s premature, because the 787- 10 hasn’t been formally offered to airlines.”

-- Scott

Emirates amps up PR on Houston-Dubai nonstop

Emirates airline continues to ratchet up the PR leading up to its Dec. 3 launch of a Houston-Dubai nonstop. The service will be three times a week until Feb. 1, when Emirates plans to turn it into daily service.

The airline has hosted road shows in Houston and Florida this year. The latest was in Florida. The airline plans a Sept. 28 show in Dallas to promote the flights to the travel industry.

"We anticipate that the new route will not only promote Dubai and transit markets to America's south, it will also promote tourism and leisure travel to the southern United States from around the world," Nigel Page (pictured, left), senior vice president, commercial operations, The Americas, said in a release.

The roadshow features a multi-media presentation about Dubai and Emirates, and an opportunity to sit in a mockup of the  Boeing 777-200LR First Class "private suite" and see a model of the Emirates' "world renowned" Al Maha Desert Resort and Spa, the release said.

The Emirates 777 will feature eight First Class suites, 42 "lie-flat" Business Class seats, and 216 economy seats.

Houston will be Emirates' second U.S. gateway, the first being New York. By the end of this year, Emirates will also add nonstops to Venice, Newcastle, Sao Paolo, Toronto, and Ahmedabad.

-- Scott

Emirates wants more A380s

CNN Money is reporting that Emirates airline wants to double the number of A380 superjumbos it has already ordered, but its home base of Dubai can't handle more until a second airport is built.

-- Scott

Emirates concludes A380 test

Dubai, U.A.E.-based airline Emirates has finished a week-long test of the Airbus A380 at Dubai International Airport, which included 100 tests and involved more than 2,000 people. The airline, which will start its first Houston-to-Dubai flights in December, tested boarding, in-flight catering, cargo operations, refueling, security and a host of other vital systems on the behemoth.

Airline officials say the turnaround time for the mammoth airplane was about 90 minutes between flights. Emirates used double-decker aerobridges to move passengers on and off the plane.

Although we're unlikely to see one of the planes at D/FW any time soon, airport officials say Terminal D can handle one with just a bit of retrofitting.

- Trebor

Emirates prepares six-city launch, including Houston

Emirates Airline is going on the road to promote the six cities it's launching service to this summer and fall: Venice (started July 1), Newcastle (Sept. 1), Sao Paolo (Oct. 1), Ahmedabad (Oct. 28), Toronto (Oct. 29), and Houston (Dec. 3.)

-- Scott

(first class, pictured right)

Modest dreams: Emirates

The chairman (right) of Emirates airline has some kind of vision, according to the New York Times (free registration): to make Dubai the world's busiest airport hub, busier than London, New York and Singapore.

-- Scott

(Burj al Arab Hotel)