Hello Dubai

I've been following the big news from Emirates Airlines the past few months. Big, at least locally, since they announced non-stop service between Houston and Dubai.

Today was the first day of service and I was live on the tarmac at IAH as flight 211 touched down at 3:26pm, 44 minutes ahead of schedule. Water cannons welcomed the 777-200LR which traveled nearly 17 hours carrying 266 passengers.

Houston is the second U.S. gateway for Emirates (after New York) and will operate three times a week, increasing to daily on February 1, 2008.

I note all of this because this is indeed great news for Houston as it continues to put our city in the International spotlight. Tourism will certainly be a draw on both sides of the flight service. Before this travellers needed to connect through New York or a foreign city to reach the hot country of Dubai (hot as in heat and hot as in happenin'). Now we can sleep straight through.

From the first class cabins I saw at the press conference a few months ago, sleeping would actually not be my first choice. Emirates recently swept three top awards at the World Airline Entertainment Association’s (WAEA) Avion Awards. The 600+ channels of on-demand entertainment on the airline’s ICE (information, communication, entertainment) system also offers seatback SMS and email services and live text news updates throughout the flight.

The only way to fly. Get your passports.