If you are flying first class on Emirates you get to take a shower on board!

Prior to the Boeing machinists strike in July Emirates warned of 777 delivery delays due to production problems with a galley supplier.

Flights offered by Emirates that began on 26 October between Dubai and Los Angeles debuted more than a month behind the targeted 11 September launch date.

Emirates senior vice president commercial operations for the Americas Nigel Page tells ATI the carrier had to scale back plans for daily service to three weekly flights as a result of Boeing freezing aircraft deliveries with the start of the machinists strike now entering its ninth week.

Page says Emirates is sourcing the Los Angeles route with a Boeing 777-200LR from its existing fleet, which comprises six aircraft of the type according to the ATI ACAS database.

The carrier will experience the same scenario on its Dubai-San Francisco flights scheduled for launch on 15 December instead of the original 26 October date for the inaugural flight.

Emirates is looking to make its own contributions in reducing weight reduction by considering reducing cruise speed to Mach 0.83 from Mach 0.85 to reduce fuel burn. It is also in talks with Russia about more direct routes.

Moreover, Clark notes “we’ve been on an intensive program of weight reduction.” The airline thinks 2-3 tons can be removed from the aircraft, scrutinizing everything from carpeting to curtains, and deciding against foot rests for economy-class seats.

But the weight concern hasn’t kept the airline from splashing out on its premium product, including offering two showers in first class. That will require the A380 to carry 25% more water than would otherwise be required. The showers are limited to 5 min. per passenger, with the airline also adding two dedicated cabin service assistants to its crew to clean the showers and toilets. Nevertheless, for the showers alone the aircraft carries half a ton of extra weight.

The Dubai-based carrier claims it will be the first commercial airline to install the facility.

It will be available in the airline’s first-call cabin from October 1 on the Dubai to New York route.

The airline has been criticised by green pressure groups who say the ‘mile-high shower’ is not environmentally friendly.

The plane will have to carry an extra tonne of water to feed the shower, a payload equivalent to 12 extra passengers.

Emirates has yet to reveal the details of its A380 first-class cabin but has promised it will be even more extravagant than Singaopre Airlines’ cabin.

Emirates Airlines said it has spent 18 months working “closely with regulators and telecommunications providers across the globe, fully completing rigorous testing and certification processes” so that it could become the first airline to allow passengers to use mobile phones. It said a 777-300 will join the A340-300 “very shortly” in having an in-operation AeroMobile system and other aircraft in its fleet will be equipped gradually.

Chairman and CEO Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum said, “All seats across our fleet are already equipped with in-seat phones, as well as e-mail and text messaging capabilities via the in-seat entertainment system. . .we are delighted to now offer them the choice of using their own mobile phones.”

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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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Emirates is scheduled to fly the giant double-decker plane for the first time on October 1, on a non-stop flight from Dubai to New York after which the flight would become daily, a statement said. The company said it will open a daily Dubai-London service with the A380 starting December 1 and from Dubai to Sydney and Auckland starting February 2009.

Emirates is the largest single customer of Airbus’s A380 with 58 on order. It expects to receive the first five units later this year.

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