Emirates Announces Orlando Effective 01SEP15

ojas · Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:03 pm

According to the GDS, Effective 01SEP15, Emirates will begin daily flights to Orlando using a B777-200LR. The schedules are:

EK 219 DXB MCO 0350 1140
EK 220 MCO DXB 1420 1230+1

This will be Emirates' 10th destination in the USA with 98 weekly flights.

I guess that should settle the EK MIA debate now

http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/...nounces-direct-flights-duba/nkdfy/

[Edited 2015-03-24 12:42:20]

Qatara340 · Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:07 pm

That is good news especially for tourists to the resorts over there. Who would have guessed?!

IAHflyer97 · Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:07 pm

Taking away DL's connecting pax? I know MCO is a massive destination for ATL so maybe it's just EK going at DL?

B8887 · Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:08 pm

Quoting ojas (Thread starter):
Emirates Announces Orlando Effective 01SEP15

OMG!

Amazing.

Congratulations EK.

B8887

Miami · Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:10 pm

Me when I saw the thread title and after I opened the thread.

sulley · Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:10 pm

Awesome news for my hometown airport... how exciting!

BiggerJetsPlz · Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:12 pm

I predict this will be upgraded to A380 around March 2016 then, once the 77L gets above load factors of about 50%. Congrats MCO.

Miami · Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:12 pm

Well, congrats to Emirates and MCO. Truly unexpected.

Looks like I'm driving 4 hours to MCO to go to DXB.

ojas · Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:12 pm

It would have been unwise to go with MIA especially with QR there and more importantly no help at all form AA.

MCO is a relatively less competitive territory and B6 has some decent connectivity there. The timings I believe allow to maximise connections via Jetblue.

HALtheAI · Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:15 pm

From a few days ago: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/17/bu...sion-sets-off-a-row-in-the-us.html

Seems Orlando has been lobbying Emirates for a while and it's paid off.

TC957 · Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:15 pm

Wonder how many Brits will be desperate enough in busy times to go to MCO via DXB...........

rta · Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:17 pm

Wasn't expecting that.
I guess it's only a matter of time before MIA.

Miami · Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:21 pm

Reservations are now open

gkirk · Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:23 pm

Quoting Miami (Reply 4):

Well played Sir!

But yes, does make sense a wee bit when you consider the Jetblue feed...what next DXB-LGW/LHR/MAN/BHX/NCL/GLA-MCO to really stick it to DL?

Nimish · Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:24 pm

This is a pleasant surprise! I'm guessing this might be more O&D focused, as I don't believe there's too much Indian Sub continent traffic to MCO, but the relatively better-off Arabs from DXB/ surrounding might be quite happy to fly their families over to MCO for a holiday. Happy to be corrected here, if the target is indeed connections to the Indian Sub Continent!

I wonder if EK will switch out the 77L with a 77W even before launch?

Cipango · Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:25 pm

Woah. Didn't see that one coming. If they're opening destinations like MCO then they could be open to other leisure destinations in the US? LAS?

I would say even EY and QR are scratching their heads at this one.

QR: "If we start MCO, will this p*ss off DL?".

EY: "If we start MCO, will this p*ss off EK?".

Miami · Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:25 pm

Emirates announcing MCO marks the return of scheduled service from Middle Eastern carrier since 2001

slcdeltarumd11 · Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:28 pm

I think they will be able to make MCO work. Emirates is all about connections and when you combined all that o&d from all those cities it might work. MCO is the world travel destination Dubai wants to be, so travel might increase within the travel industry.

Miami · Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:35 pm

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and Emirates Airlines VP announce non-stop flights to and from Dubai.

https://twitter.com/DBoddenNEWS13

Miami · Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:36 pm

Paper press release:

https://twitter.com/DBoddenNEWS13

Miami · Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:37 pm

It appears Orlando was the largest connecting market from JFK to DXB.

thekorean · Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:42 pm

I thought this was an April Fool's joke.

Orlando?? Isn't that a low yielding tourist destination?

I suspect EK will fly to MIA regardless.

32andBelow · Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:46 pm

Quoting thekorean (Reply 21):
Orlando?? Isn't that a low yielding tourist destination?

In all honest isn't Emirates a low price long haul carrier in economy at least?

Miami · Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:46 pm

Quoting thekorean (Reply 21):
I thought this was an April Fool's joke.

I would've sworn that as well..

Quoting thekorean (Reply 21):
I suspect EK will fly to MIA regardless.

Yeah? When?? 5 years?

(not trying to be rude)

Hell, I wouldn't be shocked to see them at ATL or EWR before MIA.

My hopes of seeing EK at MIA is dropping faster than rain.

[Edited 2015-03-24 12:54:01]

slcdeltarumd11 · Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:48 pm

a.net is in love with MIA, this doesn't surprise me. MCO is the bigger destination, its trully the worlds vacation destination not just the US

Miami · Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:55 pm

Video of OIA announcing flights to Dubai

http://www.wftv.com/videos/news/raw-...announces-flights-to-dubai/vDL2nT/

MAH4546 · Tue Mar 24, 2015 8:00 pm

Not entirely surprising to see Orlando, but before Atlanta, Miami and/or Newark, or even Detroit, I do find surprising. Good for Orlando, and Florida as well. I don't believe it will slow down Emirates adding other points in the Southeast.

Quoting slcdeltarumd11 (Reply 24):
a.net is in love with MIA, this doesn't surprise me. MCO is the bigger destination, its trully the worlds vacation destination not just the US

Well, no, it's not. Traffic figures don't support that assertion. Orlando is very U.S./UK-centric, along with Brazil.

Easy to stimulate, though, so a lot of Emirates key beyond markets from Orlando are going to grow in big numbers and insanely fast.

[Edited 2015-03-24 13:02:19]

migair54 · Tue Mar 24, 2015 8:01 pm

We will see how this flight works, I'd have imagine LAS before MCO but I'm sure they've good reasons to do MCO, last time I went to Orlando I was surprise to see quite a lot of Indian tourist, and I'm not sure but I've been told that Indian comunities is increasing in Florida.

Indeed this is great news for Orlando, this will open the airport to a huge potential with one stop in DXB, places like India, Pakistan, Iran, and even for many south east Asia destinations.

Quoting mah4546 (Reply 26):
Well, no, it's not. Traffic figures don't support that assertion. Orlando is very U.S./UK-centric, along with Brazil.

And maybe that's why they're so much interested in EK, to open the business more globally.

[Edited 2015-03-24 13:03:41]

northwestEWR · Tue Mar 24, 2015 8:20 pm

I'm surprised! I would've expected EWR, MIA and ATL before Orlando. I wonder if they're going to do any packages with Disney or Universal? That could be very popular to folks in Dubai.

Quoting IAHflyer97 (Reply 2):
Taking away DL's connecting pax? I know MCO is a massive destination for ATL so maybe it's just EK going at DL?

I don't think I've ever seen a single passenger flying MCO-ATL and connecting to DXB. Those going to DXB are usually coming from the Midwest and smaller regional destinations. And almost all of those passengers are not connecting beyond DXB.

airbazar · Tue Mar 24, 2015 8:26 pm

Quoting TC957 (Reply 10):
Wonder how many Brits will be desperate enough in busy times to go to MCO via DXB

there are enough of them residing in the ME and India

Quoting Nimish (Reply 14):
This is a pleasant surprise! I'm guessing this might be more O&D focused, as I don't believe there's too much Indian Sub continent traffic to MCO

I suspect that this is about catering to the growing number of Chinese visitors and catering to Japanese visitors.

Quoting slcdeltarumd11 (Reply 24):
a.net is in love with MIA, this doesn't surprise me. MCO is the bigger destination, its trully the worlds vacation destination not just the US

Please, lets not get over ourselves

Quoting mah4546 (Reply 26):
Well, no, it's not. Traffic figures don't support that assertion. Orlando is very U.S./UK-centric, along with Brazil.

flyby519 · Tue Mar 24, 2015 8:32 pm

Quoting ojas (Reply 8):

It would have been unwise to go with MIA especially with QR there and more importantly no help at all form AA.

MCO is a relatively less competitive territory and B6 has some decent connectivity there. The timings I believe allow to maximise connections via Jetblue.

Is this beginning of a 'Jetblue effect' in MCO? No doubt it helped attract a lot of carriers to BOS since B6 offered great connectivity and was willing to work with most everyone.

SCQ83 · Tue Mar 24, 2015 8:32 pm

Wow... I think not many people saw that coming before MIA

Quoting migair54 (Reply 27):
We will see how this flight works, I'd have imagine LAS before MCO but I'm sure they've good reasons to do MCO, last time I went to Orlando I was surprise to see quite a lot of Indian tourist, and I'm not sure but I've been told that Indian comunities is increasing in Florida.

MCO makes more sense than LAS. MCO was even served by Saudia at some point, so it is not even their first Gulf service.

Overall MCO has Disneyworld (for a family-oriented society like most Gulf countries) and Central Florida is not uncommon for vacation properties. I coincidentally (or not) know GCCers with properties around Orlando; I doubt many have interest to have a house in Las Vegas.

Also there are many GCCers going for college or grad school in the US (Saudi is now 3rd or 4th country with more students in the US) and Florida is always on top 3 of their preferred states (usually are FL, TX, CA; warm states).

panamair · Tue Mar 24, 2015 8:49 pm

Quoting northwestEWR (Reply 28):
And almost all of those passengers are not connecting beyond DXB.

Actually, DL has (had?) quite a few passengers connecting through DXB to India (interlining with EK), so much so they actually have (had?) a Hindii speaker flight attendant on the ATL-DXB flight. That's one of the main reasons why DL has not dropped the interline relationship with EK (like they did with QR).

DXBDFWHGA · Tue Mar 24, 2015 8:49 pm

Congratulations to MCO and EK. Good news for the folks in the I-4 Corridor.

BlatantEcho · Tue Mar 24, 2015 8:53 pm

Wow, didn't see that coming.

For those of you who have been to both cities, they, uh, sort of deserve each other.... if you know what I mean.

frostyj · Tue Mar 24, 2015 8:56 pm

Oh my god that was unexpected!

frostyj · Tue Mar 24, 2015 8:57 pm

Quoting TC957 (Reply 10):

Oh for goodness sake don't be so daft.

[Edited 2015-03-24 14:03:44]

Viscount724 · Tue Mar 24, 2015 9:02 pm

EK won't be the first carrier from the Middle East to serve MCO. Saudia once operated seasonal service although not nonstop. It was a tag-on from their JED/RUH-JFK flights.

jetblue1965 · Tue Mar 24, 2015 9:07 pm

Quoting SCQ83 (Reply 31):

Also there are many GCCers going for college or grad school in the US (Saudi is now 3rd or 4th country with more students in the US) and Florida is always on top 3 of their preferred states (usually are FL, TX, CA; warm states).

And that's the curious part. You'd think they pick schools based on its reputation or academic caliber instead of the weather ....

northwestEWR · Tue Mar 24, 2015 9:10 pm

Quoting panamair (Reply 32):
Actually, DL has (had?) quite a few passengers connecting through DXB to India (interlining with EK), so much so they actually have (had?) a Hindii speaker flight attendant on the ATL-DXB flight. That's one of the main reasons why DL has not dropped the interline relationship with EK (like they did with QR).

Could be but I haven't seen that on their bag tags or in their itineraries. They might be flying to Dubai and then rechecking their luggage and getting a separate ticket.

continental004 · Tue Mar 24, 2015 9:15 pm

Quoting airbazar (Reply 29):
I suspect that this is about catering to the growing number of Chinese visitors and catering to Japanese visitors.

China-DXB-MCO and Japan-DXB-MCO is just too much of a detour to make sense for those visitors unless fares were extremely low.

DolphinAir747 · Tue Mar 24, 2015 9:16 pm

Would a potential Disneyland Dubai kill this route?

continental004 · Tue Mar 24, 2015 9:22 pm

I'm surprised B6 doesn't fly MCO-FLL. The connection potential to the EK flight would be huge.

LH422 · Tue Mar 24, 2015 9:23 pm

A map of the U.S. destinations, ordered by distance:

http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=DXB-BOS...CO,DXB-DFW,DXB-SFO,DXB-IAH,DXB-LAX

jetblue1965 · Tue Mar 24, 2015 9:28 pm

Quoting continental004 (Reply 40):

China-DXB-MCO and Japan-DXB-MCO is just too much of a detour to make sense for those visitors unless fares were extremely low.

LA Disney is much closer to Japan/China than MCO, not to mention the Disneys right next door at Tokyo and Hong Kong, and a 3rd one coming up at Shanghai. Heck, even Eurodisney at Paris is closer to most of East Asia.

At least we solved the question of first MCO route to "Asia" =)

Rdh3e · Tue Mar 24, 2015 9:30 pm

Quoting thekorean (Reply 21):
I thought this was an April Fool's joke.

Quoting Miami (Reply 23):
I would've sworn that as well..

This is just my humble opinion, but I think all the ME3 are trying to stuff the US full of capacity so that if this Open Skies inquiry comes out against them and they end up with their capacity being "frozen" then they will have already gotten some more expansion.

Again, IMO that's why we've seen upgauges, an additional SEA, and now MCO.

jfklganyc · Tue Mar 24, 2015 9:33 pm

Why doesn't EK just burn money instead? They would surely lose it slower than flying this route.

Sorry to piss on MCO and EK...but what a joke.

wzafar · Tue Mar 24, 2015 10:07 pm

With the commencement of this route will EK now have more capacity to the USA then Australia? I recall they had 96 flights a week to Oz (maybe 89 now since they've cancelled one of the daily DXB-PER). Not counting QF's MEL/SYD-DXB flghts of course...

enilria · Tue Mar 24, 2015 10:15 pm

I suspect this is largely a political move, although I think it will do fine. U.S. tourism has supported Open Skies throughout this battle and Orlando is basically the epicenter of it, plus this probably pulls away the Florida Congressional delegation out of Delta's pocket. The market from Orlando to the Middle East and India is several spots down the list in terms of the next destination without ME3 service.

It's very smart for EK to put a face on what won't happen if their expansion is blocked and now they have Disney to add to their list of political friends.

OA412 · Tue Mar 24, 2015 10:18 pm

Quoting slcdeltarumd11 (Reply 24):
MCO is the bigger destination, its trully the worlds vacation destination not just the US

No, it's not. NYC sees 3 times the number of foreign tourists that Orlando does.

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