Three hundred passengers stepped off the first direct flight from Dubai to Orlando on Emirates airline this morning, marking the start of an arrangement that has been in the works for seven years.
The Dubai-based Emirates airline company expects the 15-and-a-half-hour flight to encourage Floridians to venture overseas and to bring more business to Central Florida from Asia and Africa.
“Orlando becomes more accessible for new markets, especially the Gulf Middle East," said Emirates Vice President of Sales Matthias Schmid. "We expect a lot of additional gas from the Indian subcontinent and from Africa."
Emirates airlines also expects to drive more tourists to Orlando.
“We see huge bookings basically during the first months of operation on these new flights from South Africa," said Schmid. "We see a lot of bookings from Kuwait. We see a lot of bookings from India, so it’s really a diverse group of passengers that we bring into Orlando.”
The first direct flight is slated to touch down at Orlando International Airport at 11:40 a.m.