Emirates to begin daily service from Dubai to Houston

In its first two months of service out of Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) the airline has experienced a high percentage of occupied seats. "As predicted, the Emirates non-stop service between Dubai and Houston has been popular among business and leisure travellers alike," said Ghaith Al Ghaith, Emirates Executive Vice President, Commercial Operations Worldwide.

The new service has also proved to be popular for shippers, particularly those from the oil and gas industry which account for over 70% of the service's cargo. The operation is currently handling about 16 tonnes of cargo out of Houston and about 10 tonnes into the American gateway.

"Emirates SkyCargo is pleased with the success of our Houston service and our confidence in the operation is demonstrated through the introduction of daily flights starting next month. For shippers, this has meant a more efficient and cost-effective option," said Peter Sedgley, Emirates' Senior Vice President Cargo Commercial Operations.

Outstanding inflight services have distinguished the Emirates experience which stands out among passengers looking for the highest levels of comfort, particularly on long haul flights.

The airline's award-winning ice Digital Widescreen product (information, communication, entertainment) now boasts over 1000 channels of entertainment in all classes and nearly 1,700 hours of video and audio entertainment. Emirates' guests enjoy the latest technology in widescreen personal televisions (23" in First Class, 17" in Business, and 10.6" in Economy) offering unparalleled clarity of images and sound quality, delivered on the airline world's most comprehensive entertainment system.

February entertainment highlights on Emirates include Bee Movie, Michael Clayton and a great selection of new and classic Arabic and Bollywood movies including the Indian smash hit Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. Film dubs and subtitles are available in over 12 languages and are offered on many Hollywood movies as well as closed captions which are also available on selected programming.

To further enhance the inflight experience, Emirates recently introduced My USB for viewing holiday photos onscreen during the flight home and My Playlist for creating personalised compilations from the nearly 10,000 tracks of music available. Passengers can even get a glimpse at the world around them during take-off and landing through one of the aircraft's two external cameras.

For communications inflight, passengers can keep in touch with the world below by seatback phone, email or sms as well as being able to catch live text news from the BBC, updated throughout the flight.

Houston is Emirate's second U.S. gateway, offering business and leisure travellers the fastest link between the UAE and Texas with a 17 hour flight from Dubai to Houston and a return of approximately 15 hours. The route follows on the success of Emirates' first destination in the United States, New York, which has been operating since 2004 and has since grown to become a three-flights-a-day service.