A brand new Emirates Boeing 777-300ER at Paine Field.
Emirates is planning to start flights from Dubai International Airport (DXB ) to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) on March 1, 2012. Being based in Seattle, it is going to be great seeing Emirates Boeing 777-300ER operating out of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
Really, this is going to be huge for Seattle. Emirates will offer a daily non-stop flight which takes only about 14-15hrs. This will be the only non-stop flight from Seattle to Dubai and even the shortest one-stop will take you about 20 hours each way. Even though I have not yet been able to fly on Emirates, I have heard their product and service are pretty darn slick, so the 15hrs should go by quite quickly.
Now is the time to find the best deals. Passengers are able to purchase tickets now, at quite a savings, to fly between March 1 to June 9, 2012. I did a quick search and it is no problem to get a round trip ticket for less than $1200.00 (with fees and taxes) during that time frame. The closest I can find on another airline is $100 more and takes 23.5 hours to get back home (it is also an American “legacy” airline and I would doubt it is as comfy as Emirates anyhow).
’œSeattle has always been an important feeder market and we are pleased to develop our relationship with the city,” Nigel Page, Senior Vice President of Emirates Commercial Operations in the Americas explained to AirlineReporter.com. “Not only will the new route help promote Dubai and transit markets to America’s Pacific Northwest, it will also promote tourism, business and leisure travel to the northwest United States from around the world. We are confident this new route will contribute to growth for the City of Seattle and for Dubai.’
Image: wings777
I’ve got friends who will be on that flight within its first month of operation coming from Asia. They actually want to fly to Vancouver (YVR) but it is *considerably* more expensive to fly to YVR than SEA/SFO/LAX (almost double).
While Emirates economy experience is great, the one drawback for people of above average height/width is that they put 10 across in the 777.
They have 10 seats across on a 777. No US airline has bad enough service to make me want to subject myself to that torture. Not to mention their planes are subsidized.
Emirates’ planes are “subsidized” through various governmental export agencies in Europe (article). Note that Boeing and the US government pull the same stunts. It is all rather ludicrous.
Air France also does the ten abreast thing as do some Air New Zealand flights. Not only does it result in narrower seats (less hip wiggle room) but also narrower aisles hence a more claustrophobic experience.
Something similar is happening with the 787 with carriers picking between 8 or 9 abreast.
The US Ex-Im Bank also subsidizes planes.
10 across is very cramped. I flew from Dubai to Mauritius in an Emirates 777 and it was a cattle car. This was a connecting flight from an A380 from London-Dubai. The change in level of comfort (economy) was shocking.
Dear Kris Ziel,
It is clear from your first comment that, A: you have not flown Emirates before and just take hearsay that their 10 a-breast is uncomfortable, and B: you are a fan boy of some other airline/alliance, hence the completely irrelevant comment of “their planes are subsidized.”
I have not flown Emirates before, nor do I ever plan to, but that doesn’t change the fact that 17″ wide seats aren’t that comfortable. Their planes are subsided, and that is a fact that you cannot dispute, and it has absolutely nothing to do with what alliance I am a fan of.
Kris,
You may have just proved both my points. As a passenger, why do I care if Emirates is subsidized? What does that have to do with this anything? You’re starting to sound the like the Lufthansa CEO. The article is about an Emirates flight from Seattle to Dubai. Frankly I would pick Emirates over all of the US carriers and a handful of European carriers any day. You will find that the 10 abreast seating is not as bad as people, who haven’t even tried it, claim it is. The fact that you haven’t tried the Emirates economy class gives you no credibility.
It’s the principle, not only are they subsidized, but Clark lies about whenever it comes up.
Emirates 77W Y seat: 17″ wide, United Express CR2 seat: 17″ wide. I’ve been on CR2, and the seat is uncomfortably narrow, so I deduce that the seat on an EK 77W, with the same width, is just as uncomfortable.
For those with with doubts on 10-abreast, here is a trip report which has a positive view http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/trip_reports/read.main/163710/
Man; I agree why fly Emirates!! Damn those seats are ugly; gotta love fake gold trim and wood panels…style no substance.
10 abreast is a killer. In economy, you can’t expect much in the way of “service” anyway, so you’re probably better off flying the legacy…
So many arguments about the 10 abreast. I flew with them Dubai-Seattle-Dubai on the 777, and it is indeed very uncomfortable. Maybe on shorter flights it would be okay, but on this long-haul flight I found myself standing in the galleys because I was so cramped in the seat it was driving me insane. Perhaps if you are on the petite side, you wouldn’t have an issue. The claustrophobic feel just made everyone cranky and angry after 7 or so hours.
But everything else was wonderful. Food, service, cleanliness of the plane was all fantastic.
And no, I’m not a fanboy of some airline. And yes, I do know that I am posting quite a while after this article came out.
I have flown the Emirates 777 – 300 ER from DXB – SFO in June 2011. I am 6’0 tall and chose the rear seats ( where the fuselage tapers down ) to 2 -4 – 2. The seats and the service quite frankly sucked and I had o spent the entire 16 hours like I was in a labour room.
I would anyday recommend the 3- 3- 3 configuration for anyone over 5’8