Emirates, Dubai the great airline, said Wednesday it carried 51.3 million passengers this year, an increase of 9% compared to 2014.
In a statement, the president of Emirates, Tim Clark, spoke of “significant growth” in 2015, despite including “turbulence” linked to regional conflicts and a business climate “shaky” in many markets.
In 2015, Emirates has added 26 new aircraft to its fleet, including 15 A380s, 10 Boeing 777-300ERs and one Boeing 777 Freighter, ending the year with a total of 246 aircraft in service.
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Emirates looking into Ft. Lauderdale but…
Emirates evaluated the possibility of adding service to Fort Lauderdale recently, but the runway at the airport may be too short to support the flight.
In September, officials from the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau held discussions with Emirates employees at a Routes conference in Durban, South Africa to encourage the airline to consider adding the service.
Broward County Aviation officials contacted Emirates shortly thereafter. The airline responded that “airfield compatibility” might be an issue for the airline’s 777-300ER and 777-200LR aircraft, but that their Flight Operations team was studying it. The two sides last communicated in late October.
The longest runway at Fort Lauderdale is just 9,000 feet, much shorter than what exists at MIA. The airline would be forced to load their plane with fewer passengers and cargo in order to be able to take off, making an A380 out of the question for such a long flight. Any 777 type is also likely not economically feasible, airport officials acknowledge. A 787 might work, but Emirates doesn’t operate any.
Emirates has also told the airport that their strategic interest at this time is in nonstop flights from Dubai to the U.S., and the airline wouldn’t consider flying from Europe to Fort Lauderdale or Miami. FLL officials had requested that the airline consider flying via Milan in order to avoid the payload hit, but were rejected.
Emirates has an extensive partnership with JetBlue, which has a hub at FLL.
The Next Miami
Emirates going double daily A380 to Schiphol
The Dutch government has now granted permission to operate an additional A380 flight at Amsterdam Schiphol, according to reports.
Emirates already operates a twice daily service (the other flight is currently flown by B777-300ER) from the Dutch airport so it means it will be able to both offer a more attractive product for both flights and provide more seats to passengers.
As we have previously reported (see news November 19), the news that Emirates wished to operate a twice daily A380 service at Schiphol did not go down well with both national airline KLM and the Dutch pilots’ union VNV.
But really the opportunities for the Dutch government to intervene and restrict Emirates are limited. Holland favours “open skies” and its aviation treaty with the UAE is a liberal one.
According to Dutch financial newspaper fd.nl, Sharon Dijksma, the State Secretary for Intfrastructure and the Environment emphasises that “Only if it is shown that the companies [airlines] from the UAE do not comply with the provisions of the aviation agreement can we stop the second daily service of the A380.”
The Dutch ruling will allow the carrier to start its second daily A380 service from February 1, 2016.
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