The Hindu : National : Emirates flights to U.S., Canada

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jun 27, 2004

National

National

Emirates flights to U.S., Canada

By Suresh Nambath

CHENNAI, JUNE 26. With its newly acquired ultra long range Airbus A340-500, Emirates, international airline of the United Arab Emirates, is planning connections between Dubai and the United States, Canada and South America.

Emirates, the first airline to operate the aircraft for a long haul travel of up to 19 hours, hopes that its direct services to North American and South America will fulfil the needs of the travellers from the Indian sub-continent, the Gulf, Asia Pacific and Africa.

The airline introduced a non-stop flight from Dubai to New York on June 1. At present, four A340-500 are in service, and four more are expected by the year-end. Besides, 20 more A340-600 Higher Gross Weight aircraft, including two on lease, are expected from June 2007. As in the case of the A340-500, Emirates is the launch customer for the A340-600.

The New York-Dubai service will enable passengers from New York to connect to points east and south of the Gulf. As Emirates vice-chairman and group president, Maurice Flanagan, put it during the inaugural flight, the A340-500 can reach any place on earth with no more than a single stop.

The amenities in the aircraft include 12 fully enclosed first class suites with flat beds and sliding doors for total privacy. Personal wardrobes, instead of overhead lockers, electronically controlled massage-enabled seats, and in-built vanity table with illuminated mirror make up the first class experience. A mini bar, dine-on-demand `room service' and an advanced information, communications and entertainment (ICE) system including a 19-inch digital screen, more than 100 movies, over 50 television channels and more than 350 radio and music channels also contribute to the luxury of the redesigned first class. Each of the suites cost $175,000.Apart from the on-demand audio and video system, the flight offers BBC World news updates. Phone, e-mail and SMS facilities are also part of the $ 8 million ICE system.

Another feature of the flight is `mood lighting'. An industry first, this allows passengers to get an image of the star-lit night sky above Dubai on the ceiling panels. This is to enable the travellers on the long haul flight to adjust their internal `body clock'.

Conceived on the basis of studies by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration that suggested that jet lag depended not on the length of the flight but on the number of time zones crossed, the cabin lighting, devised jointly by Emirates and Airbus, adjusts subtly to the passage of time. It changes from noonday shine to softer light of afternoon and dusk and the velvety darkness of the night. By mimicking the progress of time, mood lighting is intended to combat jet lag due to disruption of the body clock during long flights.

Of course, most of the advantages come only with first class. But then again, the sales line of Emirates is: "To make customers feel as much at home at 39,000 feet as they do in their own living rooms." Those who stay at home will certainly miss the flight, but presumably not the flight experience.

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