Emirates Celebrates 15 Years Of Flying To LAX

Dubai-based carrier Emirates is celebrating 15 years of flying to Los Angeles. The airline has carried over 3.5 million passengers between Dubai and LA during this period.

Emirates reaches 15-year Los Angeles milestone

The carrier has operated over 12,000 flights between the two cities since launching in 2008. The route has proven to be one of its most popular across its US network, which includes several major destinations such as Boston, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Miami, San Francisco, and Washington.

After operating its first flight to LAX on October 26, 2008, Los Angeles became the airline’s third US city after New York (JFK) and Houston (IAH). Emirates currently operates a daily flight between Dubai and Los Angeles with its fleet of Airbus A380s – these giants can carry up to 475 passengers across four cabin classes, as well as 15 tonnes of cargo in the belly.

Its flights have carried over 250,000 tonnes of cargo over these 15 years. This includes 154,000 tonnes of goods out of LAX, along with over 98,000 tonnes of imports into the Californian city. In all, DXB-LAX has been a major facilitator of tourism and trade between two of the world’s premier cities.

Second-longest route

Dubai-Los Angeles comes in as Emirates’ second-longest route, beaten only by its Dubai-Auckland service. DXB-LAX measures in at a distance of 13,420 km (8,339 miles), with flights taking around 16 hours nonstop.

Photo: Emirates

Read more: Emirates’ longest flights for August 2023The route obviously attracts passengers flying from other points of origin passing through Emirates’ hub at DXB – the carrier states that travelers from Delhi, Mumbai, Cairo, Karachi, and Riyadh are a particular draw, as are students, business and corporate travelers. Given LA’s large Armenian and Iranian communities, it is also a popular route for passengers coming from Tehran and Yerevan.

And, not forgetting that LA is the world’s largest entertainment production hub, Emirates notes that its premium cabins are popular with celebrities from the film and music industry.

Photo: Lukas Souza | Simple Flying

Emirates recently celebrated ten years of fifth freedom flights between New York and Milan, a route that has handled over 1.8 million passengers during this period. This route has also been served by Emirates’ fleet of A380s, although the carrier recently announced it switched to the Boeing 777-300ER this winter. Emirates is by far the world’s largest operator of the Airbus A380, accounting for over 68% of global capacity.

Have you ever flown on Emirates’ Dubai to Los Angeles route? How did you find the journey? Let us know your stories in the comments.