Aug. 30--Emirates airline plans to more than double its network of US destinations in the next three to five years to a total of 15 US cities, up from seven currently, a company official said.
Emirates plans to add as many as three new US city destinations in the next 12 months, Thierry Antinori, chief commercial officer, said in an interview with Reuters.
The comments mark a further sign of the expansion aims of one of the fastest-growing Middle Eastern carriers.
Emirates is set to add new service from New York's John F. Kennedy airport to Milan in October. That route, known as a fifth-freedom route because it goes between two countries other than the carrier's home base, is out of step with Emirates' Dubai-centric, single-hub strategy, but is not a sign that more such routes will be added in the future, Antinori said.
"Emirates sees huge potential with the United States because the US airlines have pitiful service to the GCC and Dubai. Emirates is acutely aware of that fact and it can easily outflank its rivals by starting even more flights to the US," Saj Ahmad, chief analyst at London-based StrategicAero Research, told Khaleej Times.
"It's entirely possible that the likes of Boston, Chicago, Miami, Atlanta, Detroit and Denver will be on Emirates' radar," he added.
The Dubai-based carrier has increased US destinations "overproportionally" in the last 18 months, adding three routes to four existing ones. It now flies to Dubai from New York, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Dallas and Washington, D.C.
On December 2, Emirates will add capacity on its Los Angeles Dubai route by using a bigger jet -- an Airbus A380 -- to replace the Boeing 777 it currently uses. The airline's two daily flights from New York already use the 525-seat A380 superjumbo.
"The next step in the US development is to open a third flight from New York going to Milan," Antinori said.
"The step after that will be to open new destinations between US and Dubai," he added. The cities haven't been decided, but Chicago, Boston and Miami are possible, he said.
In the three to five years, the airline will have 15 routes from the US to Dubai, he said.
Ahmad said Emirates' growing fleet of Airbus A380s and Boeing 777-300ERs, soon to be augmented by Airbus A350-900s and likely to be launched 777-8X and 777-9X, will allow the carrier to launch more non-stop flights to the US. He said it would render any possible competitive rivalry from US airlines ineffective since US airlines simply do not have the muscle, fleet or financial strength to tackle Emirates head-on.
"Some may argue a lack of competition could harm fares, but in reality, Emirates dominance on Dubai-USA routes offers a variety of class of travel in its award winning cabins that customers will be able to vote with their wallets as they see fit," he said.
Antinori said Emirates also is very interested in Boeing's new 777X jet and probably will announce orders at the Dubai Airshow in November, he said. While not confirming it officially, the Emirtaes chief commercial officer noted that the airline did not order planes during the Paris Airshow in June.
"I expect us to order planes" at the airshow, he said. "At Emirates we are not used to having two airshows in a row without ordering anything."
Antinori said Emirates does not plan to buy equity in other airlines, including Spicejet of India, which had been rumoured to be of interest. "We are not interested in investing in stakes in airlines, including Spicejet," he said.
Copyright 2013 - Khaleej Times, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
