Emirates A380 arrives in New York!

by Grant Martin on

Dubai’s Emirates Airlines made its inaugural Airbus A380 flight into New York‘s John F Kennedy airport this past Friday, on what will now become America’s first regularly scheduled service with the the new two story jumbo jet.
Gadling was on hand to capture some sweet photos in and around the aircraft, as well as through a press conference detailing the coming Emirates events.

The airline plans to augment the current service (now on a Boeing 773) between JFK and Dubai with this aircraft in order to carry higher volumes to the booming Middle Eastern country. Eventually, they also plan on integrating A380 service to Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Emirates is the second customer of the A380, following nearly two years of manufacturing delays and an initial round of deliveries to Singapore Airlines.

In a series of test flights out on the West Coast, the airline will be trumpeting their new expanded service over the next few days, so if you’re in California keep your eyes peeled for the behemoth overhead. While Gadling wont be able to make it out for the test flights, check in with The Cranky Flier at some point next week for the full scoop on in flight performance.

Meantime, check out Gadling’s photos of the aircraft and of the inaugural event and start saving your change for a ticket!

%Gallery-28925%

Emirates’ A380 is on the way!

by Grant Martin on

It’s not very often that we Americans are privy to a taste of the Airbus A380, the new supermega jumbo jet that took to the skies last year.

Singapore Airlines was the first customer of the aircraft and though they took a quick zip around the United States, as our friend Mr. Cranky talked about last year, most folks have barely seen or heard much about the aircraft — after all, none of Singapore’s A380 flights regularly touch American soil.

Emirates, Dubai‘s glorious national carrier, however, has more appeasing plans. Starting later this summer, the airline is opening flights on the A380 between New York‘s JFK and Dubai, while routes from Los Angeles and San Francisco are planned for later in the year.

The airline plans to kick off its festivities with an inaugural flight reception at JFK on August 1st, where the media will be treated to inbound airport goodies from tarmac access to interviews with Emirates’ staff and general merriment. Then, the aircraft flies cross country to California where two “acquaintance” flights are scheduled for the media and other interested parties. Too bad that’s on the wrong coast for me.

If you’ve got any friends in the media world, now might be a good time to cash in your chips for a ride on the A380 — otherwise you’re going to have to wait to fly revenue. Last time I checked, those flights were going for about two grand.

Stay tuned for pictures and coverage from the Emirates reception.

Masdar, the world’s greenest city

by Iva Skoch on

If you had to take a guess where the greenest city in the world is going to be by 2009–and yes, I am talking green as in “zero carbon”, “zero waste”, “car free “city–where would you guess it would be?

I was completely off. I just didn’t think that a region rich in oil would be the first one to come out with a project of this scope.

The first city in the world based completely on renewable energy will be built in the United Arab Emirates. Electricity for the six-square-kilometer Masdar City will be generated by photovoltaic panels, while cooling will be provided with concentrated solar power. According to ENS newswire, design and operation of Masdar City must deal with the realities of Abu Dhabi’s sub-tropical, arid climate where temperatures range from a low of around 50° F to a high of around 118° F in the summer.

It is not the most beautiful skyline I have ever seen, but beauty might be an overrated concept in the 21st century.