Emirates has eye on Washington

Seattle Emirates airline is expected to add more US destinations to its schedule sooner rather than later and Washington DC could be the next one.

Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates airline and Group, spoke to Gulf News on the sidelines of an event welcoming the inaugural flight to Seattle Thursday.

"We are looking to add more flights and Washington DC is very much on our radar," he said.

Asked whether it could happen this year, he nodded in affirmation.

Seventh new destination

It's been a busy year for the airline, which added a seventh new destination in three months when flight EK229 touched down at Seattle Tecoma International Airport at 12.15pm.

Seattle joins Dallas as new US routes, while other added destinations include Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Dublin, Lusaka in Zambia and Harare in Zimbabwe.

There was a distinct buzz at the event, with the Port of Seattle authorities putting their best foot forward to welcome their guests, while it was more business-as-usual at Terminal 3 of Dubai International Airport on Thursday morning.

A high-level delegation led by Shaikh Ahmad also included Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister of Foreign Trade, and Major General Mohammad Abdul Rahim Al Ali, Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Defence. Other government officials and Emirates top brass also participated.

"When our flight landed here, history was created. Emirates can now connect Seattle to more than 130 destinations across the world," Shaikh Ahmad said at the ceremony.

A flying time of 14 hours is a long haul by any stretch of the imagination, but the Emirates officials were quick to point out they have longer routes with the Dubai-Houston service taking more than 16 hours.

"It's the sixth stop for us in the US and we can assure you that a lot of feasibility study has been done before arriving at the decision," said an Emirates spokesperson on the flight, who agreed it would offset restricted landing rights in Canada.