Emirates airlines continues to push the boundaries by launching a non-stop flight from Dubai to Seattle which goes over the North Pole. Previously travellers who wanted to fly between the Middle East and the Pacific Northwest either had to do a stopover in Europe or Asia which meant a total travel time of 21-24 hours.
Emirates airlines was quick to exploit a new flight path over the North Pole which slashes the travel time to 14 hours. The plane flies the shortest possible route. It heads north for Russia, over the top of the World and heads down past Alaska, British Colombia and it finally descends to Seattle (route map here).
The in-flight map from showing the plane literally over the North Pole. The second picture show the view on a flat map of the World.
This not only represents a considerable time saving for passengers, but also a significant reduction on fuel and carbon emissions. Emirates airlines has met the conditions of the latest ETOPS regulations (December 2011), which means that two-engine planes such as the Boeing 777-200LR (which stands for Longer Range) or their popular 777-300ER (Extended Range) are allowed to fly up to 330min from the nearest airport instead of 180min as per previous ETOPS rules.
I was lucky enough to fly on this newly scheduled route which features the award winning Emirates airlines service, comfort and in-flight entertainment. Due to the long flight, the airline has added extra cabin crew and two additional pilots in the cockpit. They also had to reduce the number of toilets to accommodate additional storage areas for catering. Solenne, a French flight attendant, was also going to Seattle for the first time. She explained how the crew works in shifts on this flight and have a dedicated crew rest area room which is located above the cockpit and includes small beds for resting. She didn't seem too concerned about flying over the North Pole or the long flight which she pointed out was not the longest flown by Emirates (they fly non-stop from Dubai to far flung places such as Brazil in 16 hours).
One can expect to see more airlines make use of the North Pole shortcut especially as airlines face higher fuel bills. The time saving alone allows the airlines to ultimately keep some of their planes flying more per year which will result in leaner running costs and hopefully more stable fares for customers. Boeing, who's main factory is also in Seattle, has not faced (or made public) any operational issues with flying this route. But, several articles have raised concerns about flying over the North Pole which has higher levels of radiation, although this likely to be more of a concern for pilots, cabin crew and frequent travellers on this type of route.
This not only represents a considerable time saving for passengers, but also a significant reduction on fuel and carbon emissions. Emirates airlines has met the conditions of the latest ETOPS regulations (December 2011), which means that two-engine planes such as the Boeing 777-200LR (which stands for Longer Range) or their popular 777-300ER (Extended Range) are allowed to fly up to 330min from the nearest airport instead of 180min as per previous ETOPS rules.
I was lucky enough to fly on this newly scheduled route which features the award winning Emirates airlines service, comfort and in-flight entertainment. Due to the long flight, the airline has added extra cabin crew and two additional pilots in the cockpit. They also had to reduce the number of toilets to accommodate additional storage areas for catering. Solenne, a French flight attendant, was also going to Seattle for the first time. She explained how the crew works in shifts on this flight and have a dedicated crew rest area room which is located above the cockpit and includes small beds for resting. She didn't seem too concerned about flying over the North Pole or the long flight which she pointed out was not the longest flown by Emirates (they fly non-stop from Dubai to far flung places such as Brazil in 16 hours).
One can expect to see more airlines make use of the North Pole shortcut especially as airlines face higher fuel bills. The time saving alone allows the airlines to ultimately keep some of their planes flying more per year which will result in leaner running costs and hopefully more stable fares for customers. Boeing, who's main factory is also in Seattle, has not faced (or made public) any operational issues with flying this route. But, several articles have raised concerns about flying over the North Pole which has higher levels of radiation, although this likely to be more of a concern for pilots, cabin crew and frequent travellers on this type of route.
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