Just three months after launching flights to Houston, its second U.S. gateway in the U.S. in addition to New York Kennedy, Emirates is expected on Thursday to announce that it will inaugurate new flights to Los Angeles this fall.

On Sept. 1, Emirates expects to become the first Gulf region carrier to fly to the U.S. West Coast when it launches flights from Dubai to Los Angeles. It intends to use the 777-200LR on the route, the same type of aircraft it is using to fly to Houston. The aircraft will be configured with eight First Class suites, 42 lie-flat Business Class seats, and 216 Economy Class seats.

The Los Angeles flights will be the longest in its network, taking 15 hrs. 55 mins. to fly to Los Angeles and 16 hrs. 35 mins. to return.

Nigel Paige, senior VP of commercial operations, North America, says “this opens a whole are of the U.S. for us.” Los Angeles was chosen not only because of its large catchment area, but also because of Hollywood and Dubai’s ties to the film industry, he said.

The aircraft will include some special features, such as the ability to call other seats, as well as to download photos onto the video screen from a digital camera.

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