Emirates is happily putting the last year behind it,
focusing instead on its core U.S. business: flying customers to Dubai.
In May, the U.S. State Department reached an agreement to
end the open skies dispute over alleged government subsidies that Delta,
American and United had waged against the three Gulf-based airlines: Emirates,
Etihad and Qatar. Those airlines must produce annual audited financial
statements, something Emirates already did.
Then there was last year's upholding of the "travel
ban," which targeted nationals of Muslim-majority countries, and the
electronics ban, which required flyers from Dubai and other Middle Eastern
cities to check their tablets and laptops.
Hubert Frach, divisional senior vice president of commercial
operations west, oversees the Americas for Emirates. Earlier this month, the
former Lufthansa executive said Emirates was performing much better this year
than last in the U.S.
"We are very happy with the U.S. market and the route
performance," he said. Load especially
during peak period [the end of May through August] were super-strong, solidly in
the high 80s."
The 2017 bans "had an impact," Frach said, but "it
really bottomed out quickly, and the market is doing well now."
Forward bookings are also strong, in part attributable to
the strong U.S. economy, Frach said, adding that Emirates is hearing from its
U.S. travel agents that there is "very robust demand" from both the
corporate and leisure markets.
Signs that Emirates' U.S. growth is not slowing include the
return of an Airbus A380 to Houston and the addition of a Newark-based nonstop
flight to Dubai on June 1. The Boeing 777-300ER adds a second daily departure
from Newark in addition to one that stops in Athens.
Frach said Emirates' attention now is solely on its core
business.
"We focus exclusively on connecting the U.S. economy
with other places through Dubai," he said, adding that there are no
particular U.S. markets the airline is looking to expand into. "We always
look at opportunities, so I'd never rule anything out. But there is nothing
currently in the pipeline."
Emirates also does not have any plans to add additional "fifth-freedom
flights," or routes that originate in the U.S. or Dubai but stop in
Europe. Emirates currently operates two such routes, Newark to Athens and New
York JFK to Milan. Frach said such routes receive outsize attention.
"It stands for only 1% of Emirates' capacity deployed
globally, but everyone focuses on it," he said. "Our core business is
connecting 90% of the world with one stop in Dubai."
That Newark-Athens flight, which launched in 2017 as the
first direct, year-round service between the Greek capital and the New York
area in more than five years, is performing "fantastically," Frach
said. "There is strong demand from both Greece and the U.S.," he added.
Frach said U.S. travel agents are excited about Emirates'
partnership with FlyDubai, which offers access to 90 destinations, opening
options to the safari market in Africa and new stops in India and other exotic
destinations popular with the upscale U.S. leisure market.
Emirates customers are also responding positively to its
expanding technology footprint, such as the use of virtual reality (VR) in its
seat-selection process introduced in July. Customers can use 3D VR to view
their seats and surroundings.
Frach said the technology helps Emirates upsell to better
seats, and in the fare classes where seat selection has a cost, enables
customers to choose based on that VR experience.
Passengers are also responding well to the upgrades made to
Emirates' new 777-200R first-class cabins, which include virtual windows in the
middle row. Those planes only fly between Europe and Dubai.
"It's a game changer," Frach said.