Emirates takes off for Boston on Monday

Emirates will take off for its inaugural flight for Boston on Monday, marking the Dubai-based carrier's eight destination in the US and ninth in North America. Operating a Boeing 777-200LR aircraft into Logan International Airport, the flight will take off from Dubai International Airport at 9.45am and land in Boston at 3.15pm, US Eastern Standard Time. The daily nonstop service will mark Emirates' continuous expansion into the US market, after Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, New York JFK, Washington Dulles, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle-Tacoma. In an earlier statement, His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group said: "Our Boston service will further develop this exciting gateway into the north-eastern United States. "Based on passenger demand, we believe the time is right to further boost our US operations, while stimulating channels of trade and tourism to and from the state of Massachusetts and the wider New England region.” Emirates also launched its third daily service into New York JFK from October last year with a stopover in Milan, along with adding capacity to Los Angeles in December by up-gauging from the Boeing 777-300ER to the Airbus A380. Later this year, the airline will continue its drive into the US market by launching services to Chicago from August 5, with Thierry Antinori, chief commercial officer, Emirates, stating in an interview with Reuters that Miami could also be on the flightplan for the carrier in future. "In the three to five years, the airline will have 15 routes from the US to Dubai,” he added. In its drive to expand into the US, industry experts are also speculating Philadelphia, Atlanta, Detroit and Denver could very well be in the crosshairs for Emirates as it gains a stronger foothold in the continent. The other major players from the Gulf, namely Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways, already serve Chicago O'Hare International Airport, with industry monitor CAPA and OAG showing that combined, Qatar and Etihad offer nearly 5,000 one-way weekly seats from Doha and Abu Dhabi to Chicago O'Hare (Qatar roughly 2,300 and Etihad about 2,600). Emirates will roughly add 1,500 one-way seats from Dubai to Chicago. Meanwhile, on other sectors served by Emirates, Qatar and Etihad are both adding service to American's Dallas/Fort Worth hub in July 2014 and December 2014, respectively. As part of an agreement with JetBlue, Emirates and JetBlue passengers are able to travel on each other's flights and earn reciprocal miles. Emirates started flights to America in 2004, beginning with New York. Source: Emirates 24?7