AMS + GVA will switch from B77L to B77W from 01AUG > B77L goes to ORD

YYCDXB isn't going to happen. It is posturing by EK. The market is so insanely small, it's not even funny. More people travel between Montreal and the Middle East in a month than do all of Alberta and the Middle East in a year, and no amount of "oil traffic" is going to fix it.

I will caveat that by saying it would possibly happen if the bilateral talks result in an agreement essentially forcing it (e.g. You can add daily service to YYZ if you fly to YYC 3w or you can have 14 frequencies, but three must be used to YYC).

Excellent news as far as I am concerned. May even get me back on board - am very curious as to what the fares ex USA (and ex ORD) will be to APAC.

Congrats to ORD. If it was a no brainier. But, I know for a fact that Miami is the next US destination for EK. Some many mentions.

Thierry Antinori, chief commercial officer said "The step after that will be to open new destinations between US and Dubai,” he added. The cities haven’t been decided, but Chicago, Boston and Miami are possible, he said. (He was talking about Milan and New York)

“It’s entirely possible that the likes of Boston, Chicago, Miami, Atlanta, Detroit and Denver will be on Emirates’ radar,” he added.

Great news! (about ORD, not about eightblack being back on EK-- just kidding!!)

He will be as soon as DEN is announced...

not currently in plan

You may be right. It's funny how our travel patterns change. I spent most of last year wearing out the seat cushions on UA and AA between the US and Europe/Australia and I have to say, both airlines treated me like a real frequent flier.

Ok, so the frills weren't the same. But I had wifi on a lot of the flights, the AA lounges were better than average, Bose headphones on AA in J, more than decent IFE on UA, lie flats between the US and Australia, and more importantly, consistent recognition (even if it was automated). I was also able to redeem 14 system wide upgrades (8 on AA and 6 on UA) and with AA, was able to access the F lounges network wide. Even priority bag tagging is working consistently here in the US.

To be honest, I cant fault the service I received. Sure I miss ICE, I miss the 380 and I miss the frequent op up, but to be truthful with you all, a lot of it was like a lottery. You never knew what you were going to get until the day of travel. At least with the US carriers, there is a system in place for upgrades, and that system is transparent.

Are UA and AA even close to EK? Not by a long shot. But they both have stood the test of time with me at least. I've been with UA since 1996 and with AA only recently (3+ years) and that was because they went out of their way to status match me. As a result, I flew 250K BIS miles between both airlines in 2013.

When EK announce DEN and when they start rolling out of ORD, I may consider them. But a semi flat seat on a 777-200ER compared with a UA787 to Melbourne from LA or a new AA 777-300ER out of DFW to Europe, well, I might need to be well liquored up on Tanqueray and tonic before I considered it. As many might well speculate, it may all boil down to the dollars and sense.

:p Lol!

Right, he will be there. He won't know for sure. He won't tell you about new USA routes. LAS & PHX soon to be announced.

Interesting nuggest of information from Tim in this WSJ article....

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/...840542404.html

I would not be surprised if EK launched KTM. FZ has been doing really well on their multiple daily flights to KTM, and I am aware that this is a market that provides a lot of interline connections to EK flights.

Isn't there a ban of widebodies at KTM?

Only because of runway cracks. It may have already been lifted. If not, then I expect it will be soon.

Don't various open skies agreements allow EK to serve US 1-stop via Europe? We know it has been done via Germany and Italy so far.

I was referring to the declaration of interest from Denmark, Spain and Sweden for EK to offer trans Atlantic flights ;)