This Emirates Boeing 777-300ER is in Seattle, but only because it was built there. Soon one will be based in Seattle.
Emirates has announced they will start flying non-stop from Dallas and Seattle to Dubai starting early next year. Flights from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) will commence on February 2, 2012 and from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) on March 1, 2012. The airline is also looking at possible expansions to Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia and Washington, DC.
Before 9/11 Emirates had plans to expand in the US, but their plans were put on hold due to lack of demand. Currently, Emirates is the world’s number one airline in international traffic and they feel it is time to increase service to the US.
’œWe’ve always had fairly ambitious plans for the U.S. and this is part of that,’ Emirates President Tim Clark told Bloomberg. ’œIt’s an immense market. There will be more to come, including increased frequencies and bigger planes. We have ideas for the East Coast, the north-south axis in the center and for the west.’
Emirates will operate their new flights from DFW and SEA using Boeing 777s, but the airline is speaking openly about using larger Airbus A380s on future US routes.
’œThe A380 will be an option for all U.S. operations post- 2013, when the plane will have a higher takeoff weight, so that routes such as Dubai-Los Angeles become a distinct possibility,’ he said. ’œAnd most U.S. airports are A380- capable or will be.’
Being based in Seattle, it is very exciting to hear that not only will a new airline start operations here, but that they are also contemplating using the Airbus A380 in the future. As of now, no airline operates the A380 to SEA and even with this announcement, it seems it could still take a while.
“We do not have any immediate plans to bring the A380 to Seattle, although this may be something we consider in the future,” Jim Baxter, Vice President North America, Emirates Airline explained to AirlineReporter.com via email. Even if Emirates was ready to operate the A380 to Seattle, the airport is not able to handle scheduled service of the world’s largest airliner.
“We can handle the A380 in emergencies, however we do not have facilities for regular use, such as the multiple gate loading ramps, for the aircraft,” Perry Cooper, SEA’s Media and Public Affairs Manager explained. “At this time, if an A380 were to arrive and need to access a gate, safety guidelines would require all traffic to stop until the aircraft stopped at its gate, due to the width of taxiways and safety zones next to the runways.”
The A380 is so large, that it would currently take up two of SEA’s gate configurations and due to the cost and lack of direct demand, the airport does not “currently have plans to expand to accommodate the A380.”
Image: Rick Schlamp
First A350 XWB nose section being unloaded from the Beluga aircraft at St Nazaire. Photo by Airbus. Click for larger.
Now that the Boeing 787 Dreamliner has been delivered and will soon be entering service, I want to share some love with the Airbus A350 XWB.
The A350 line up currently planned will overall, be larger than the 787, even though there will be some overlap. The smaller A350-800 will compete with the larger 787-9 and 787-10. The A350 is slated to carry 250 to 400 passengers, where the 787 models will carry about 210-290 passengers.
Cut away of the Airbus A350 XWB from Flightglobal. Click for larger.
The A350 will be the first airliner manufactured by Airbus using 53% composite materials. We have previously seen the upper wing cover and landing gear, now something a bit more recognizable; the A350 XWB nose section. The A350 nose section comes in three different parts, which is different than the Boeing 787 coming in just one.
At this time, the A350 has 567 orders, where the first aircraft is expected to go to Qatar Airways sometime in later 2013.
Jet Airways Boeing 777-300ER with newest livery.
It is rare to find an airline that rocks the cheatline well anymore. For those that do not know, the chealine is a line in an airline’s livery that goes down the side of the fuselage. Airlines like Pan Am, Air France and many more used to proudly display their cheatlines. American Airlines still does it, but I wouldn’t quite say they “rock it.”
Jet Airway’s livery is clean, modern and it is easy to recognize the company. When they started operations in 1993 they had an older livery, that didn’t look as modern, but still had a strong cheatline.
Today, Jet Airways operates a fleet of almost 100 aircraft, including Airbus A330-200s, ATR 72-500s (which is odd because they are not jets), Boeing 777-300ERs, 737-700s, 737-800s, and 737-900s. They are also a customer for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner with 10 on order.
Jet Airways is based at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (BOM) in Mubai, India and has 76 destinations, including 52 located in India.
Image: Zeldenrust
ANA's first Boeing 787 Dreamliner (JA801A) waits in the dark next to the Future of Flight
It was cold, dark and windy, but all worth it to catch the delivery flight of All Nippon Airways’ (ANA) first Boeing 787 Dreamliner delivery flight.
Media watches on as ANA's first 787 gets pushed back.
ANA’s first 787 (JA801A was parked next to the Future of Flight as airline employees loaded up and prepared for their flight to Haneda (HND). The flight was scheduled to take off around 6:35am, but was delayed a bit until about 7:15am. This was okay, since it allowed a little more light before lift off. The aircraft lined up and took off heading south. After lift off, the pilots waved the wings to say good bye.
JA801A lines up for take off at Paine Field.
It was very emotional for Boeing employees who were gathered on the Strato Deck on top of the Future of Flight. Some had tears of happiness, since so much of their life has been tied up in making the 787 successful.
ANA pilots wave the wings as they head off to Japan.
JA801A will be arriving in Tokyo just before 9am local time to another great celebration. You can follow the flight status on FlightAware.com.
MORE PHOTOS OF THE ANA 787 DREAMLINER DELIVERY FLIGHT
500 employees walk with ANA's Boeing 787 Dreamliner during the delivery celebration today.
It was cold and it was very wet, but the celebration was still great. The event was set up outside the Boeing Factory at Paine Field. By the stage was ZA002 in standard ANA livery and down the way sat the 24th 787 with special ANA 787 livery (JA802A). The first 787 to go to ANA, JA801A, was seen parked next to the Future of Flight for its first flight early tomorrow morning. Almost right on time, the 787 in special ANA livery was pulled towards the stage with 500 Boeing employees walking with it.
Scarfs were handed out and then raised in celebration during the 787 Delivery event. A 787 (ZA002) looks on.
After JA802A arrived to the stage, everyone cheered. Hundreds of Boeing workers stood in the rain while executives from both Boeing and ANA talked about this historic event. The first 787 for ANA, JA801A is set to take off tomorrow at 6:35am PDT. Boeing will offer another live feed via their website and I will be there on Twitter as well.
Boeing employees huddle under the 787 Dreamliner to get out of the rain.
“Today we celebrate a significant moment in the history of flight,” said Jim McNerney, Boeing chairman, president and CEO. “The 787 Dreamliner is the biggest innovation in commercial aviation since the Boeing 707 introduced the world to passenger jet travel more than 50 years ago. I want to thank ANA and all the employees of Boeing and our partner companies for the talent, technology and teamwork that have brought this game-changing airplane to life.”
During the ceremony, Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Jim Albaugh presented a ceremonial key to Shinichiro Ito, president and CEO of ANA.
“It’s not often that we have the chance to make history, do something big and bold that will change the world in untold ways and endure long after we are gone,” said Albaugh. “That’s what the 787 Dreamliner is and what ANA and Boeing have done together ’“ build what truly is the first new airplane of the 21st century.”
Be sure to check these too:
* MORE OF MY 787 DELIVERY PHOTOS
* Great roof shot of both aircraft from Boeing
* Gallery from the Seattle PI
