Next Stop: Hollywood (Okay, LAX)
Emirates SkyCargo is gearing up for the launch of the inaugural
non-stop flight between Dubai and Los Angeles, debuting Sunday,
October 26.
Initially operating three times a week, Emirates will fly a
Boeing 777-200LR, offering up to 10 tons of cargo capacity in each
direction. The Los Angeles to Dubai outbound service will be
welcomed by American fruit and vegetable exporters -- whose produce
is expected to account for the majority of the cargo shipment --
along with US Postal Service mail.
Inbound from Dubai to Los Angeles, the main cargo will be
textiles from the Indian subcontinent, courier mail and, of course,
equipment for the Hollywood film industry.
Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President Cargo, Ram Menen said,
"Emirates SkyCargo is very committed to the US, which has proved to
be a very successful market for us. To ensure that our customers
receive the highest standard of Emirates service, we have built a
team with more than four decades of experience in the Los Angeles
air cargo market among them."
Leading the team at Los Angeles is Cargo Manager Siegfried Meyer
who has spent the last 23 years based at LAX, working for various
international cargo carriers. Mr. Meyer is supported by Senior
Cargo Agents Anna Brown and Shalonn Bland and cargo supervisor
Alfredo Limon, who also bring with them several years of local air
cargo experience.
"Going by the response we have had from our U.S. customers, who
have wanted a service linking the west coast to Dubai for a long
time, we are confident that LAX will emulate the successes of our
other American gateways," said Mr. Meyer.
Los Angeles, the country's manufacturing capital, is the third
U.S. destination to which Emirates SkyCargo has launched services
since June 2007, when it commenced a Boeing 747 freighter service
to Toledo, Ohio. It expanded its American network last December,
commencing flights to Houston, and will launch services to San
Francisco by the end of this year. Emirates started flying to New
York, its first non-stop service to the Americas, in 2004.
Emirates SkyCargo's global route network spans 101 cities in 61
countries across the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East,
Africa and the Indian Subcontinent. EK215 will depart Dubai (DXB)
at 8:20 a.m. on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays and arrive in Los
Angeles (LAX) at 1:55 p.m. EK216 leaves LAX at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday,
Wednesdays and Fridays, touching down in Dubai at 7:55 p.m. the
next day.
The airline notes Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is the
12th busiest cargo airport in the world, handling 1.88 million tons
of cargo last year. Dubai International Airport (DXB) finished just
below LAX in the rankings at 13th, with 1.66 million tons.