The battle is on. Emirates, the Dubai-based global carrier, hosted a gala Wednesday night in the Grand Ballroom at Navy Pier. More than 500 business and travel industry executives from Chicago and beyond attended the soiree, where Lionel Richie was the featured A-List performer.
It would be a stretch to say Richie was a bigger "get" than was the glamorous singer, actress and Chicago native Jennifer Hudson, who headlined a gala hosted by Qatar Airways last spring when that carrier launched nonstop service between Chicago and Doha, Qatar.
Still, the crowd at the Emirates bash seemed to enjoy Richie's song stylings, and that's probably all that matters in the end.
But with Emirates now in business between Chicago and Dubai with daily Boeing 777 service on an aircraft configured with first, business and economy cabins, the stage is set for the the fight to find which of three well-regarded Middle East-based carriers will prove the most popular for travel to and from the Middle East. Qatar has been flying between Chicago and Doha since April of 2013, while Etihad has been flying nonstop between Chicago and Abu Dhabi since 2010 — giving it a huge headstart over its competitors.
Emirates executives last night certainly tried to suggest they were already doing a good job of attracting customers to their brand — indicating flights for August were booked at 85 percent of capacity.
But of course, one month of strong capacity does not guarantee the same over the long haul. And for now, neither of Emirates' two well-funded and highly-regarded competitors, Qatar and Etihad, show any sign of backing off.
But in casual conversation at last night's Emirates party, there seemed to be some acknowledgement that, at some point, at least one of the the thee competitors looking to fill seats to the Middle East could fall by the wayside in their bid to serve Chicago. Travel agents in attendance last night also indicated that demand among curious Chicago area travelers looking to visit the Middle East was very low at the moment due in large part to all the unrest in the region.
bizjournals
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