Emirates orders 30 more 777-300ERs

[jonjuan]

http://www.flightglobal.com/article...rough-emirates-orders-30-more-777-300ers.html
Well, they aren't shy about wanting to firmly cement their place as the world's dominant international long carrier. They will soon be expanding in the U.S. going after premium international revenues. Got to be making a ton on cargo as well. 750 new pilots by end of '11. Hope the US carriers are gonna try to grab a piece of the pie before it's too late.
DATE:19/07/10
SOURCE:Air Transport Intelligence news
FARNBOROUGH: Emirates orders 30 more 777-300ERs
By David Kaminski-Morrow

Middle Eastern carrier Emirates has ordered another 30 Boeing 777-300ERs, adding to a previous order total of 71 of the type.
The airline, which disclosed the deal at the Farnborough Air Show, values the agreement at $9.1 billion.
All 777-300ERs are fitted with General Electric GE90 engines.
Emirates' aircraft will be opreated in a three-class configuration, with eight first-class suites, 42 business-class and 310 economy-class seats.
There are 86 777s already in the Dubai-based carrier's fleet, including 53 777-300ERs.

http://www.rascott.com/Dubai/Emirates Watch.htm

Emirates five year plan for Americas

5 May 2010

Emirates Airline says that it is planning to add up to seven destinations in the Americas over the next five years as it looks to the developed and developing economics there for growth.

Nigel Page, the Emirates senior vice president of commercial operations for the Americas and Africa said that the only thing that is really holding the airline back is aircraft availability. The Dubai-based airline already flies to four cities in the US – New York, Houston, Los Angeles and San Francisco – along with Toronto in Canada and to Sao Paulo in Brazil.

The airline could add four US cities over the next five years, plus three destinations in South America, Mr Page said.

http://www.flightglobal.com/article...bout-777-successor-and-hints-at-more-big.html

Emirates talks to Boeing about 777 successor and hints at more big orders
By Max Kingsley-Jones


Emirates is continuing dialogue with Boeing about its plans to develop a 777 replacement, as the airline hints that more big twinjet orders could be in the offing.
The Dubai carrier’s all-widebody fleet totals more than 140 aircraft, with a further 168 on order. Its backlog comprises 18 777-300ERs, which make the balance of its orders and leases for 71 aircraft, as well as 70 A350 XWBs (50 -900s/20 -1000s) and 80 A380s.
A rollover will begin in February 2011 when Emirates starts phasing out 68 older widebodies – A330-200s, A340-300/500s and 777 “Classics”.

Emirates Airline president Tim Clark says that the new A380 deal has no impact on its current orders for smaller widebodies, adding: “There’s plenty more out there, I can tell you.”
This has fuelled speculation that more large-twinjet orders are being discussed, and industry sources indicate that Emirates may be negotiating a big Boeing deal for Farnborough.
Phase-out of the airline’s 777-300ERs begins in 2017, and while its A350-1000s are potential replacements, Clark confirms solutions from Seattle are in the mix.
“We’ve told Boeing we need to look at something that has the legs, the lift and economics of today’s -300ER but with the A350-1000’s predicted fuel burn.”
Clark concedes there is no guarantee Boeing will decide to develop such a new big twin, but says that “if they do it somewhere between 2017 and 2020” the airline would consider it, “otherwise we’ll have to think again about the -300ER replacement”.
The airline aborted a planned deal for 30 A330-300s and 30 more A350-1000s announced in July 2008 at the time of its first A380 delivery.
Although Clark revealed last year that he was considering reviving the transaction, that may no longer be the case because of the new A380 contract.

http://www.flightglobal.com/article...-to-recruit-700-pilots-in-next-18-months.html

Emirates to recruit 700 pilots in next 18 months
By Murdo Morrison

After largely closing its doors to new recruits during the 2009 downturn, Emirates plans to hire more than 700 pilots over the next 18 months to support new routes and aircraft.
The airline has embarked on a recruitment roadshow that will take in much of Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. It kicked off on 4 June in Madrid, one of six new destinations this year. It has already begun services from Dubai to Tokyo and Amsterdam, with Prague, Baghdad and Dakar to follow.
Emirates - which has a 147-strong fleet with six aircraft due to arrive this year, part of 144 on order - traditionally recruits only first officers.
Capt Alan Stealey, divisional senior vice-president flight operations, says Emirates is recruiting at a time when much of the industry is cutting back. The airline recently took delivery of its ninth Airbus A380 and will accept number 10 within days.

"That's two giant aircraft to staff in the space of a fortnight," he says. "By the end of the year we will have recruited more than 250 pilots. Next year, we're looking to double that figure and recruit 500."

 

[Dizel8]

Here's to hoping they eventually allow out of country basing, like KAL, CatPac. Sure would be a much more attractive job, as opposed to living in the sandbox.

 

[General Lee]

Too bad Emirates will have a hard time finding places to fly them. They are also getting 90 (count them, 90) A380s by the end of the decade, but countries are starting to limit the number of slots Emirates gets in their countries. Canada allows 3 weekly flights total from Toronto. Germany allows then to only fly to 4 cities within Germany (they want more, but can't have them). France is doing the same I believe, only granting a couple cities. It will continue, primarily because Emirates is dumping seats on the market and hurting the home country airlines by taking away the nonstop traffic and pushing people through Dubai with cheaper fares on A380s. We'll see how it goes when all of those 777s and A380s show up.



Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[jonjuan]

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...d-operations-in-India/articleshow/6183784.cms

DUBAI: After bringing to India the double decker Airbus A-380, the world's largest passenger aircraft, Emirates Airlines is looking at expanding its operations in the booming country which is considered by the firm as its second biggest hub after Dubai.

"India is a very big market which has a lot of potential for the next five years. China, India and Brazil are the future market.

"Last year, it was exceptional and everybody suffered. I believe the load from India helped us reduce the effect of the recession. There was double digit growth in India last year and hence India is top of our priority," Majid Al Mualla, Emirates Senior Vice-President (Commercial Operations West Asia and Indian Ocean) told PTI here.

As per the bilateral agreements between the two countries, there are a total of 54,000 seats and the current load factor for the airline hovers at about 83 per cent.

With business "back to normal" after recessions, the USD 11.8 billion Airline is looking at a possible growth of 10-15 per cent in the load factor besides hiring more staff for operations in India.

"By end of 2009, we saw business coming back even though people were talking about three-four years to recover. I think it was earlier than everybody expected. And right now, we are in a stage that we can say that business is back to normal for Emirates," Mualla said.

The airline currently operates 184 weekly flights from 10 destinations in the country and is looking at the possibility of opening new destinations.

As per the bilateral agreement, there are six more additional points that they could operate from including Amristar, Mangalore, Trichy, Goa and Coimbatore.

"We have a long wish-list not just for India but different parts of the world. We are currently operating from 10 destinations in India but if you look at the growth prospect in India, then these 10 destinations are not enough. There is a huge opportunity for all airlines to operate more points in India," the senior Emirates official said.

He said once the airline achieves this year's target, it will add flights to existing network and expand the routes.

The Emirates Group has about 10,400 Indians working for it with about 900 in India. The airline is now looking at hiring more especially for its call centre in India which has a strength of about 500.

"As of now we are having about 900 people working in India but this number will go up. We are hiring more people in our call centre and as soon as we open lounges, we will have more people," he said.

Mualla said the airline is looking at a growth of 15 per cent in passenger load during the current financial year.

"It is not just the traditional load from India to the Middle-East. We have seen a tremendous growth to US, Europe and even to leisure destinations. There is lot of mix of traffic through India and this is good," he said adding, "We are looking at a growth of 15 per cent in traffic during the current financial year from India."

 

[jtf]

The limited slots and destinations are exactly why they are getting so many A380s. If they can't do a lot of flights, they can at least grab a lot of customers with the limited slots they can get and then connect them to all the places that will grant slots and destinations. They are definitely going to put a serious hurt on a lot of countries national carriers even without getting much more slots.

 

[jonjuan]

They signed a pretty sweet deal with Brazil. With the travel restrictions on foreign pax coming into the U.S., many will simply fly direct from the M.E., Asia, Africa, Europe to Brazil versus previously flying through the U.S. on U.S. carriers. Then, they'll connect somewhere in Brazil to fly to the U.S. all on EK. Potentially pretty scary stuff for the U.S. international carriers. Add their vastly superior on board service with non-union, non-old F/As and they will be filling those hundreds of wide bodies. I think F/As actually get a letter of discipline if they refuse to answer the F/A call button. In the U.S., you'll get a "What do you want?!" from your $7,000 F seat.

 

[overseas boy]

EK's commercial side seems to know what they are doing so far, I'm sure they would love to go head to head with the "mighty" Delta. yawns

 

[General Lee]

The limited slots and destinations are exactly why they are getting so many A380s. If they can't do a lot of flights, they can at least grab a lot of customers with the limited slots they can get and then connect them to all the places that will grant slots and destinations. They are definitely going to put a serious hurt on a lot of countries national carriers even without getting much more slots.

European airlines determining how to counter growing Emirates

By Jeff Thomas July 13, 2010

With Emirates expanding rapidly and showing no sign of slowing down, European airlines are looking at how to counter a carrier that has become a formidable threat.

Dubai International reported a 13.6% leap in passengers in May to 3.7 million. IATA recently noted that Middle East airlines "continue to post strong growth with connecting traffic through their hubs." It is that traffic in particular that concerns European carriers worried that growing numbers of passengers will choose EK connections through Dubai over flights offered by EU-based airlines.

KLM CEO Peter Hartman said he expects EK will face "more and more reluctance [from governments] to grant traffic rights." According to the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, Hartman told Dow Jones that governments in Europe and other parts of the world are likely to become increasingly unwilling to accommodate the next phase of the carrier's expansion.
CAPA pointed to recent reports that the French government has rejected requests to grant UAE-based airlines more landing slots at Paris Charles de Gaulle. EK, Etihad and Air Arabia were seeking a total of seven new slots, but French authorities reportedly agreed to just one new service.
British Airways CEO Willie Walsh recently stated outright that Emirates' expansion represents a threat to long-haul European carriers. "It’s definitely going to have an impact on the business," he said.

Lufthansa CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber told Bloomberg, "It’s a miracle that Emirates already has more intercontinental seats than Air France and British Airways combined. It took us 40 years to get 30 747s in the air in one of the biggest global economies, so one must assume that [EK's aggressive growth strategy] is an investment for [serving] the world."

EK last month ordered 32 additional A380s valued at $11.5 billion at list prices, the single biggest order for the aircraft to date and bringing its total orders for the type to 90.

Pointing to that order, CAPA commented that the eventual size of Emirates will be "significant enough to make irreversible the airline industry's transformation from a heavily regulated, nationalistic anachronism to something approaching a real business. No longer can traditional competitors hope to stave off this threat to the status quo, as they have been hoping in recent years while the airline expanded threateningly. This order marks a genuine turning point in that process of change. It is so large in fact that competitors' business plans will be reshaped by it."







Air France KLM chief warns Emirates over expansion by Shane McGinly Thursday, 24 June 2010

NEW PLANS: Emirates has signed a $11.5bn deal to buy 32 additional A380 ‘superjumbo’ aircraft from European manufacturer Airbus. (Getty Images)


Emirates Airline’s global expansion plans will be increasingly challenged by governments' reluctance to agree more traffic rights, a senior executive at Air France KLM reportedly said in New York earlier this week.

The Dubai-based airline is likely to face "more and more reluctance [by governments] to grant traffic rights," Peter Hartman, chief executive of the KLM unit of Air-France-KLM, and a member of the airline's governing board, told the Dow Jones Newswires in New York.

At the Berlin Air Show earlier this month, Emirates announced it had signed a $11.5bn deal to buy 32 additional A380 ‘superjumbo’ aircraft from European manufacturer Airbus. This was in addition to the 48 Airbus 380s, 70 Airbus 350s, 18 Boeing 777-300s and seven Boeing air freighters on order, totaling 143 wide-body aircraft worth more than $48bn at list price.



Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[General Lee]

EK's commercial side seems to know what they are doing so far, I'm sure they would love to go head to head with the "mighty" Delta. yawns

Sure, with State help I guess anything is possible. Oh wait, I guess Emirates on it's own can afford $50 billion in airplane orders....right. Keep yawning. All Dubai can provide for almost every other airline out there is one city, not a hub transfer point, they don't want a hub in Dubai. So why should other countries allow EK to flu unlimited to their countries when their own airlines only have one or two flights a day to Dubai? That is why Canada, Germany, and France have started the limiting of EK flights. That will probably continue, because other countries have NOTHING to gain by allowing EK to expand into their own countries and take away passengers from their national carriers. Many countries will probably act like Germany---4 cities is enough.



Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[General Lee]

They signed a pretty sweet deal with Brazil. With the travel restrictions on foreign pax coming into the U.S., many will simply fly direct from the M.E., Asia, Africa, Europe to Brazil versus previously flying through the U.S. on U.S. carriers. Then, they'll connect somewhere in Brazil to fly to the U.S. all on EK. Potentially pretty scary stuff for the U.S. international carriers. Add their vastly superior on board service with non-union, non-old F/As and they will be filling those hundreds of wide bodies. I think F/As actually get a letter of discipline if they refuse to answer the F/A call button. In the U.S., you'll get a "What do you want?!" from your $7,000 F seat.

I have a feeling that will be stopped by our government. Sure, Brasil may allow it, but granting extra rights to Brasil for a foreign carrier and not giving US carriers extra slots won't be tollerated for very long. The Emirates flights from Brasil may go to places like Narita nonstop, but not to Dallas, Denver, etc. I would think that would be given a big NO.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[jonjuan]

I have a feeling that will be stopped by our government. Sure, Brasil may allow it, but granting extra rights to Brasil for a foreign carrier and not giving US carriers extra slots won't be tollerated for very long. The Emirates flights from Brasil may go to places like Narita nonstop, but not to Dallas, Denver, etc. I would think that would be given a big NO.

Bye Bye--General Lee

Maybe, BUT take a guess where A) the current President is from and B) what company is headquarted there that just received an order for $9.1 BILLION? You can bet there's no way that he'll take jobs away from the people of Boeing, right in his hometown. You can also bet that Boeing has better lobby-ists than the ATA. Boeing has already talked with Ray LaHood, IMO. Not good.

 

[Dornier 335]

Sure, with State help I guess anything is possible. Oh wait, I guess Emirates on it's own can afford $50 billion in airplane orders....right. Keep yawning. All Dubai can provide for almost every other airline out there is one city, not a hub transfer point, they don't want a hub in Dubai. So why should other countries allow EK to flu unlimited to their countries when their own airlines only have one or two flights a day to Dubai? That is why Canada, Germany, and France have started the limiting of EK flights. That will probably continue, because other countries have NOTHING to gain by allowing EK to expand into their own countries and take away passengers from their national carriers. Many countries will probably act like Germany---4 cities is enough.

It also depends how much the M.E. is part of your (route) business structure. I see LCCs in Europe like Ryanair, Easyjet and Air Berlin being a bigger problem to AF, LH and BA than EK at the moment.

The few times I have flown EK to DXB and back the flight was *maybe* half full (or empty). I am amazed to see that EK flies (or used to) three times daily to cities like BHX or MAN and even fly into GLA and ABZ. It makes no economic sense. But I guess this is how they measure their manhood down in those parts of the world.

If you do a search on EK on pprune be ready for a lot of negativity. Flight crews seem to work harder than your average work camel.

 

[ACL65PILOT]

They have a ton of lift coming, hope they can continue to fill it.

Also, much of this will be to refurb the fleet. I would be more than happy with my airline buying their used junk.

 

[jonjuan]

Also, much of this will be to refurb the fleet. I would be more than happy with my airline buying their used junk.

Too bad the F/As often seem to come with the aircraft.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122877609256789273.html

DUBAI -- After checking that passengers' seat belts were fastened and the cabin was prepared for takeoff, Alex Rodriguez, a 26-year-old Spaniard and Emirates airline flight attendant, reached into her pocket for a tube of bright red lipstick.

"I retouch it every 15 minutes," she said. "Otherwise, my supervisor will remind me."
Emirates' Glamorous Crew

View Slideshow
[SB122833503491176627]
Farnaz Fassihi/The Wall Street Journal

Emirates flight attendants smile at the ceremony promoting them from economy to business class service.

The global economic slump is just now touching the glittering s************************* of the oil-rich Persian Gulf. But when it comes to the 10,000 flight attendants working for Emirates, the government-owned airline here, Dubai isn't cutting any corners. In an industry in a tailspin in much of the rest of the world, this city-state of man-made island developments, luxury resorts and an indoor ski slope has put some of the glamour back into air travel.

The glamour comes with a price. The airline is a demanding employer, flight attendants say. Tough rules are enforced, including some that would be deemed discriminatory in the West, such as weight requirements and a no-pregnancy policy for unwed women.

The carrier meticulously recruits attractive young men and women from around the world, like Ms. Rodriguez, a brunette with big green eyes and high cheek bones. As part of the airline's standard training, Ms. Rodriguez attended beauty and etiquette training. She's required to keep her makeup fresh, even on long flights. High-heels are a must when she's in uniform, even on the ground. Both men and women are expected to get manicures and facials.

Innocuous onboard flirting is condoned: Emirates' rules require attendants to politely accept a business card or phone number if it's proffered by a passenger. (The airline doesn't require the attendants to call or give out their own numbers, unless they want to.)

The uniform for women -- pillbox hat and beige scarf attached to one side, flowing sideways over the shoulder -- evokes traditional Persian and Turkish attire.

Earlier this month, dozens of uniformed and perfectly made-up Emirates flight attendants greeted and mixed with a star-studded, black-tie crowd, including Charlize Theron and Robert De Niro, at a $20 million grand-opening party for the new Atlantis hotel here.

"Our crew always sticks out," says Ms. Rodriguez.

Many of the airline's recruits are from developing countries in Asia, Eastern Europe and across the Middle East. For them, the airline is a rare ticket to see the world in style, and for women from conservative countries like Iran and Egypt, it's a chance for independence. For many Western airline veterans drawn here, Emirates has so far been a safe haven from the economic storms buffeting the rest of the industry.

Emirates airline crew members head to the airport in Dubai last month.
Tamara Abdul Hadi for The Wall Street Journal

Layovers aren't so bad, either.

"We work hard in the air, but we also party hard when we are on the ground," said Neha Masillamani, a flight attendant from New Delhi, as she got her hair styled and her nails done at a crowded Dubai salon popular with Emirates attendants.

Young, single crew members are paired with roommates and housed in blocks of luxury-apartment towers across Dubai. The night life is reminiscent of college. Ms. Masillamani recalled a recent party at a room in the 21st Century, on Dubai's neon-lighted main strip. Female crew members danced in bikinis while young men sprayed champagne.

At night, flight attendants flock to Zinc, a throbbing night club tucked into the ground floor of the Crowne Plaza hotel here. Male attendants, hair gelled in spikes and sporting tight-fitting designer shirts, earrings and leather necklaces, order pitchers of vodka mixes. The manager of the club estimates up to 70% of its revenue comes from Emirates' crew.

"It's so much fun, like being on a dreamy vacation. They take care of us here," said Jane Park, a 24-year-old from Korea, dressed in a tiny black dress and stiletto heels as she greeted her friends and colleagues.

There are limits. Despite its tolerant attitude toward foreigners, Dubai still harbors a conservative Muslim culture. If a single female attendant shows up pregnant, she's fired. Openly gay male attendants need not apply. Premarital sex and homosexuality are both illegal in Dubai.

"We aren't above the law here," says Kevin Griffiths, Emirates' senior vice president for cabin crew.

On duty, attendants are kept on a short leash.

Crew members aren't allowed to drink in the 12 hours before a flight. Smoking and eating in uniform are prohibited. If an attendant gains too much weight, he or she is put on a diet by the airline's resident nutritionists.

A regulation manual prescribing everything from dress to posture on duty is also clear about the underwear women should have on under their light camel-color skirt and pants: white or beige, and "well fitted."
Young Women Preferred

Emirates draws young recruits. The average age of a flight attendant is 26. By comparison, the average age of an attendant on a U.S. flight is in the mid-40s, according to a spokeswoman for the Association of Flight Attendants. According to the union's statistics, just 12% of members in the U. S. are under 30.

Emirates also prefers women to men: Seventy-five percent of total flight crew must be female.

"It's a little stifling," says a 25-year-old European female attendant, who asked not to be named. "We are human beings, not just a marketing tool."

Emirates hasn't been immune to the current global economic downturn. The airlines posted an 88% drop in first half-year profit last month. But Valerie Tan, a company spokeswoman, said it is hiring more attendants to staff new routes to North and South America. And new planes are on order.

In the past 12 months, the airline says, it received 93,079 flight-attendant applications. Using photos, interviews, psychological profiling and group sessions with candidates, executives hire just 6% of job seekers. Recruiters hunt for promising hires around the world.

In some countries, applicants are put on a scale and weighed. (The practice is against the law in many Western countries because it's considered discriminatory, according to the company.)

After a six-week training course at Emirates headquarters near Dubai's sprawling airport, the airline graduates about 90 new flight attendants per week.
Less Pay, More Fun

Michael Miller, a 29-year-old from Miami, has flown with Southwest Airlines Co. and JetBlue Airways Corp. He says Emirates pays less than his former employers, but the perks and lifestyle are better.

Emirates also offers free living accommodations and transport to and from work. Married personnel are offered either company housing or generous housing stipends. The crew also gets up to 50% off at local bars, restaurants and health clubs.

Emirates' routes -- including nonstop flights to Los Angeles and São Paulo -- beat the U.S. domestic circuit, where most young American attendants wind up. And Emirates puts its attendants up at luxury hotels and gives them generous per diem allowances while traveling.

"I would have to fly 30 years in the U.S. before I could travel like this," says a bronzed Mr. Miller, lounging with a blonde colleague at the rooftop pool of one of Emirates' high-rise apartment towers. "There is no comparison to what we get here," he said.

 

[johnsonrod]

Maybe, BUT take a guess where A) the current President is from and B) what company is headquarted there that just received an order for $9.1 BILLION? You can bet there's no way that he'll take jobs away from the people of Boeing, right in his hometown. You can also bet that Boeing has better lobby-ists than the ATA. Boeing has already talked with Ray LaHood, IMO. Not good.

You are really going for it here. None of that is for sure. Obama is from Dubai? And didn't Airbus just get an additional $11 billion order fro EK also? Looks like France and Germany (where Airbus is made) are closing the door to new EK expansion. So, all of the new Airbus EK planes will be flying to every large US city? A lot of what you are guessing at is just that, a guess.

 

[Full of LUV]

EK's commercial side seems to know what they are doing so far, I'm sure they would love to go head to head with the "mighty" Delta. yawns

Don't mistake with paying $0.25/gallon for gas as "knowing what they are doing so far". Orders are orders, and there is a race on in the ME to have the biggest most expansive airline in not only the region but the world. EK is ahead of Qatar air / Gulf Air and a host of others, but they are all adding capacity to the point where any normal bill paying airline would have succumbed to debt death, but when you are privately held by the Emirates, only they know the books!

 

[General Lee]

Don't mistake with paying $0.25/gallon for gas as "knowing what they are doing so far". Orders are orders, and there is a race on in the ME to have the biggest most expansive airline in not only the region but the world. EK is ahead of Qatar air / Gulf Air and a host of others, but they are all adding capacity to the point where any normal bill paying airline would have succumbed to debt death, but when you are privately held by the Emirates, only they know the books!

And that is what will eventually bite them in the royal arse! Other Governments will get wise to this (like Germany, France, and Canada have) and limit the amount of flights in and out of their countries, to try to protect their own airlines and local employment.(constituents) You may see a couple EK A380s here and there, but it is doubtful you will see a lot everywhere, other than Dubai that is.......We'll see I guess...


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[BILL LUMBERG]

The Emirate of Dubai has problems. Abu Dhabi will compete with them and will try to measure up their little peckers and then it'll be too late.....

Anybody see the real estate problems there now?? Not worried.....besides, they think they can muscle around the governments by placing orders....good luck with that!

 

[Lear70]

If Emirates ever opened a U.S. base, they'd have no problem getting highly-experienced pilots for a long time to come.

Whenever hiring picks up in the U.S., Emirates has a *VERY* hard time recruiting. Right now they're having to lower their mins to get people in the door (running recruiting sessions throughout the U.S. right now). When retirements pick up in 2012 and the Legacies have to start recruiting 600-900 pilots a year, the RJ folks won't want to go to Dubai - they'll wait for a U.S. Legacy, and Emirates will start getting *REALLY* desperate for pilots.

I'm betting we'll see a large change in Emirates' hiring / pay / QOL in a couple years because of it. I also bet JonJuan is right, and Obama and administration will attempt to relax restrictions for Emirates here in the U.S. I'm SOLIDLY against such a relaxation, but I can see the writing on the wall...

Time will tell...

 

[Lear70]

Moderator hat on:

Knock it off with the pure mud-slinging, especially sexual-based comments. Further infractions will get you a few days off...

/mod