Emirates' newest Boeing 777 arrives - via the North Pole

The aircraft, registered as A6-EMS, reached a height of 41,000 feet, flying at up to 900 kilometres an hour, and is the larger version of Boeing's fast-selling twinjet. Emirates has six in service, and nine of the smaller 777-200s.

The 777's maiden voyage over the North Pole achieved a "double first" - Emirates' first flight from the US West Coast to Dubai, and the first-ever 777-300 to take the Polar route.

It was commanded by Captain Ahmed Al Shamsi, Emirates' Manager Flight Technical Projects, assisted by Captains Fali Vajifdar, Graeme Mowbray and Peter Pont, the so-called four-man "heavy crew" needed for ultra long-range missions like Dubai/Los Angeles. Emirates will soon serve this route with very long-range Airbus A340-500s.

Bob Everest, Manager Flight Dispatch & Air Traffic Management, Operations Engineer Ed Bigus and Cabin Crew Sami Khalil, Lorraine Nash and Narreda Hope also joined the 14 hour 10 minute flight from Boeing's Paine Field, Seattle, north via Canada to the Pole, then down over Greenland, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, Turkey and Iran for a perfect landing in Dubai.

Also on board were representatives from Boeing, Honeywell and the UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority, whose cooperation was vital to the success of the flight, which burned 34,000 US gallons of fuel and carried just 17 people.

The two-in-one mission was not merely another routine delivery, but a dress rehearsal for the launch of services to and from North America.

Flights via the Arctic offer a 'short cut' through little-used airspace, saving fuel, cutting flying times and helping Emirates transform itself into a global airline.

Capt Al Shamsi said: "This delivery allowed us a first-hand look at many technical aspects of Polar missions, for example fuel freezing temperatures and en route diversion airports.
"We also used it to check out our communications systems and aircraft instruments in Arctic latitudes, and gather data on long-range flight planning, aeromedical issues, and new navigational procedures and systems."