Houston is only months away from historic air service between George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) and Dubai International Airport (DXB) in the United Arab Emirates. Emirates has announced it will begin the new passenger service in December of 2007, with flights three times a week from Bush to Dubai and plans to follow up with daily service by February 2008. This exciting announcement makes Houston only the second U.S. city in the country to receive direct passenger service to Dubai. “We are very pleased to welcome Emirates to our family of international carriers,” said Richard Vacar, director of the Houston Airport system. “This marks our first non-stop passenger service to the Middle East.” “As the energy capital of the world this is great news for Houston,” said Houston Mayor Bill White. “Our energy-related businesses, and our growing Middle Eastern community, will now have a new and convenient air bridge to that vital part of the globe.” “We believe there is a strong and growing demand for convenient air travel connections between the US and cities in the Middle East and Indian subcontinent,” said Emirates chairman and CEO, Sheikh Ahmed Bid Saeed Al-Maktoum. “It has been our intention to expand our presence in North America and the delivery of our new 777-200LRs later this year enables us to operate these ultra long-haul routes efficiently, while providing our passengers with the latest comforts and amenities onboard.” The news is traveling fast and receiving rave reviews throughout the Houston area which includes a strong Middle Eastern population, extensive ties in the oil industry and a solid cultural connection. The Greater Houston Partnership sees the new service as a boon for the entire Houston Metropolitan area.  “Emirates’ decision to provide direct service between Houston and Dubai Is further proof that Houston is a world-class city and a leading gateway to global markets,” said Jeff Moseley, president and CEO, Greater Houston Partnership. “I am thrilled to hear about this new relationship between Dubai and Houston,” says Ellen Goldberg -

As of December 2007 Emirates will be flying direct from Houston to Dubai.

- president of Sister Cities of Houston, which signed an agreement with the UAE in 2001, making Abu Dhabi a Sister City.

“This new service will facilitate commerce and cultural relationships between Houston and the United Arab Emirates,” she siad.

There are at least 1,200 Houston based companies that trade with the Middle East and nearly 30 Houston companies with operating subsidiaries in the UAE, according to Aida Araissi, managing director of the Houston based, Bilateral US Arab Chamber of Commerce.

“Our Houston based members will welcome the convenience of direct travel between Houston and Dubai. Texas has very strong commercial ties with the countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The regions growing demand for infrastructure investment and consumer goods has tapped into the engineering, energy, chemical and computer expertise that fuel much of Texas’s economy,” says Araissi. “The Emirates announcement of direct air service between Houston and Dubai will positively influence bilateral trade between the cities and the region at large.”

The Houston Airport System spent several years working on bringing the service to Houston, according to Molly Waits, senior marketing executive for HAS, who says Emirates will operate out of Terminal D at Bush when service begins December 3, 2007.

Emirates is the first airline to announce new service to Houston this year.

In 2006, an overall passenger growth rate of 6.5 percent pushed HAS total passenger traffic past the 51 million traveler mark for the first time. International passenger traffic grew by 7.3 percent in the same period.

Dubai is one of the seven emirates that comprise the United Arab Emirates, a Middle Eastern Country “situated in the southeast section of the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia on the Persian Gulf.” It is an oil rich country about the size of Maine, with a population of roughly 1.2 million people.

Dubai is known globally for its cosmopolitan atmosphere, upscale shopping, and rich new sporting events such as the Dubai Desert Golf Classic and the world’s richest horse race, the Dubai World Cup.

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