Free Republic

San Francisco is rolling out the red carpet for Emirates Airlines, which starting today will be flying nonstop from SFO to Dubai and back three times a week - and the East-West link sure makes for some interesting politics. The airline, which is run by the government of the oil-rich United Arab Emirates, operates by rules far different from those San Francisco espouses. Take Emirates' flight attendants, for instance. A recent Wall Street Journal piece on the airline says that "tough rules are enforced, including some that would be deemed discriminatory in the West, such as weight requirements and a...

Emirates and Qatar Airways the two fast-growing Gulf-based carriers are set to announce a number of firm orders that could add up to somewhere between 100 to 120 aircraft, aviation officials said. The announcement will be made at the forthcoming Paris Air Show to be held from June 13 to 19, according to a Gulf News report from Tokyo. While Emirates is set to order a combination of A350s and Boeing's ultra-long range B777-200LRs, Qatar Airways is set to order as many as 50 to 60 B787s. Following Emirates' recent revelation, Qatar Airways is also set to sign a major...

Emirates Airline continues to push Airbus to launch the stretch version of the A380, the proposed dash 900, President Tim Clark told ATWOnline in Dubai.Asked whether he expects Emirates' first A380 to arrive on schedule in October 2006, Clark responded, "I don't know of any aircraft that has been delivered on time to the customer." The most important thing, he said, is that the jet meets Emirates' demanding specifications: "The A380 has to deliver to us 18% lower seat-mile costs compared to our 777-300s." Emirates' A380s will seat 489 in a three-class long-haul configuration, with up to 644 seats in...