The terrorism attacks in 2001, the H1N1 pandemic and the global economic meltdown have seriously affected outbound travel from the Middle East to the US, which was at its peak in the early 1990s.
With the US now adopting strict visa entry rules and regulations, the once popular destination no longer figures as most Arab travellers’ first choice for a summer holiday.
Cities such New York, Washington DC, and Florida, former favourites with GCC families, have seen fewer Arab visitors over the last few years.
However, an increase in US investment in the Middle East means more and more US expats are now residing in the GCC and have contributed to the rising demand for flights to the States.
In response, some of the region’s carriers, namely Emirates Airline, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways, have increased routes and frequencies to this market.
Emirates, which currently operates a twice-daily service to New York’s JFK International Airport, launched its state-of-the-art A380 for the first time in August 2008 from Dubai to New York JFK. Unfortunately the current economic climate saw the airline scrap that service when passenger numbers dropped but it has assured that the A380 will return to New York within the first six months of 2010.Nigel Page, Emirates’ senior vice president, Africa and the Americas said: “2009 has not been a normal year for any airline and at the beginning of the year we saw a decrease in passenger numbers by 20 per cent on New York which led to our decision to reallocate the A380 on other routes. In doing so we were able to maintain the profitability of the route. Average load factors have been maintained in the high 70 per cent range. We have seen a steady recovery since the summer months and are confident to bring the A380 back on to the JFK route in 2010.”
In addition, the airline commenced its Los Angeles service last month as well as operating a daily service to Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport. On December 15, Emirates will introduce another service to the West Coast with a non-stop flight to San Francisco bringing its total number of US gateways to four.Etihad launched its flights to New York in October 2006 and the service has become an established favourite, especially with the Arab community in the US.
Etihad Holidays division continues to offer various breaks to New York as well as regular promotions in the ‘World Deals’ programme.
The airline began its flights to Chicago in September 2009. The initial three flights per week will increase to six flights per week at the beginning of this month going daily at the beginning of 2010.
by Shalu Chandran