Sea-Tac’s newest foreign carrier, Dubai’s Emirates Airline, said Thursday that it expects Indian expatriates could provide a substantial share of the passengers on a new flight from here to Dubai.
Nigel Page, Emirates senior vice president, said those expatriates were one of several reasons Emirates made Seattle its sixth U.S. destination. Emirates begins daily Boeing 777-300ER flights from Sea-Tac to its Dubai hub March 1.
Many Indian-born software developers work in Seattle’s high-tech sector, Page said. The Dubai connection will provide them an easier, shorter flight home.
From its Dubai hub, he said, Emirates has 185 weekly flights to 10 cities in India, with several cities being connected with multiple flights daily. The connection times between flights, Emirates executives said, can be as little as 90 minutes.
Emirates is the world’s fastest growing major airline with a huge appetite for new aircraft. The airline already operates the world’s largest fleet of Boeing 777s, 90, and the world’s largest fleet of Airbus A380 superjumbo aircraft. In recent months, Emirates ordered 50 more 777s and took options on 20 more of the twin-engine, long-haul aircraft.
In addition to India, Emirates provides connections in Dubai to 21 African cities and 17 in the Mideast.
Seattle’s stable of international companies, including Boeing, Microsoft, Paccar, Weyerhaeuser, Starbucks and Amazon, are expected to use Emirates’ new flight, he said. The airline’s hub is more modern and less crowded than others in Europe or Asia, he said.
Sea-Tac-based Alaska Airlines today announced a frequent flier partnership with Emirates. Customers of each airline can earn frequent flier miles for flights on the other.
Caroline Boren, managing director of loyalty programs for Alaska, said Emirates reputation for quality service and its global reach made it an obvious candidate to join Alaska’s 14 other airline partners.
Prices for the 14,836-mile round-trip to Dubai will range from more than $15,000 first class to $1,148 economy.
Emirates is the first foreign airline to announce new service to Sea-Tac this year.
John Gillie john.gillie @thenewstribune.com
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