=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/c/a/2008/12/16/BUDC14OK38= .DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday, December 16, 2008 (SF Chronicle) SFO's service to United Arab Emirates takes off George Raine, Chronicle Staff Writer Emirates Airline touched down in San Francisco Monday, touting its new nonstop service to Dubai. On the way in, the flight was about 70 percent full. On the way out, thr= ee hours later, more than 90 percent of the seats were filled. That kind of demand is both surprising and reassuring to the Middle Eastern airline, which hopes its new service will draw crowds hoping to visit the gleaming Arab capital, famous for both its high finance and high-rise buildings. Of course, that might be a pretty tall order in an industry that has been severely crippled by this year's economic downturn. Passenger travel is down worldwide. Eight U.S. airlines went out of business in 2008. But Emirates Airline's chairman and chief executive won't be weighed down in the bog of recession and negative talk. Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed al-Maktoum, stepping off the inaugural flight, said he is a glass-half-full businessman. "The market is a rough market, most of the businesses are down, so the only way is up," he said. "The minute you hit bottom, the only way is up, and yes, I believe we are at the bottom." At a news conference earlier Monday, he said, "What is happening now will not last forever." He added that flying "is the only way to travel. People will not sail in ships. It takes too long." Emirates Airline, which began in 1985 with a $10 million infusion from t= he Dubai government, has since been profitable - even if the $88 million profit reported for the six months that ended in September was relatively modest, Ahmed said. The next six-month report will be better, he said. SFO's first service to Mideast San Francisco became Emirates Airline's 102nd worldwide destination Monday, and San Francisco began its first service to the Middle East. This completes a 10-year effort by San Francisco International Airport to entice the Dubai carrier. San Francisco and the United Arab Emirates believe there are business and leisure markets here and there as well as a demand by ethnic groups who will visit families and friends in both cities, all making sense for the route. "It is really a mix - business traffic, family in the United Arab Emirates, where there is a big American population now, and visiting friends in the subcontinent," said Nigel Page, vice president for commercial operations in the Americas for Emirates. The airline began service between Los Angeles and Dubai in recent weeks, and demand has been strong, Page said. Economic crisis hits Dubai Strong demand would seem to fly in the face of the global economic crisi= s, which has also ensnarled Dubai, a place of explosive growth as the premier trading center in the Persian Gulf and gateway to the Middle East. Huge amounts of foreign investment poured into the city in the past 20 years - once a small place for fishing and pearling and now a luxury tourist and real estate hub, although it is now applying the brakes. Some skyscrapers stand unfinished. Workers from Manila and elsewhere who came for construction jobs in recent years are heading home, and parts of the United Arab Emirates' economy are trapped in the credit crisis. Ahmed, 50, a graduate of the University of Denver, thinks too much is being made of the slowdown in Dubai. Of course, he has a vested interest as he is also deputy chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, which formulates policies and strategies for the Emirate of Dubai. Ahmed is the son of the former emir of Dubai, the brother of a former ruler and the uncle of the current ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum. He said, "I think what has happened affected the whole world. It is not just Dubai. If you see what Dubai has done in the last five years, some would not be able to achieve that for 20 years. So I think we went at a very fast pace, achieved most of our goals, but I think we will always be positive. "It is not Dubai that is slowing down. The whole world is slowing down. = We are part of this world. We are remaining positive, and I think the only way is to move on." Bleak forecast for 2009 Others in the airline industry are less optimistic. The International Air Transport Association, a trade group for 230 airlines, said last week that its forecast for 2009 showed an industry loss of $2.5 billion. "The outlook is bleak," said Giovanni Bisignani, the association's director-general. "We face the worst revenue environment in 50 years." Ahmed said the United Arab Emirates might have started the service betwe= en Dubai and the West Coast sooner but was waiting for the right airplane - the Boeing 777 long-range aircraft, capable of a 16-hour flight. The Emirates flew a Boeing 777-200LR from Dubai. In 2005, the aircraft s= et the record for distance traveled nonstop by a commercial airplane - 11,664 nautical miles, Hong Kong to London. The San Francisco service will be three times weekly, on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays, with daily service beginning in early May. Monday's flight was 7,400 nautical miles, completed in 15 hours and 20 minutes, and Emirates billed it as "the longest green journey." The airline worked with governments in Dubai, Russia, Iceland, Canada and the United States to fly the most efficient polar route to reduce fuel and emissions. The airline estimated it saved 2,000 gallons of fuel, which Page said is= 3 to 4 percent of what the airline would have budgeted for fuel for the flight. E-mail George Raine at graine@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ----------------------------= ------------------------------------------ Copyright 2008 SF Chronicle <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you wish to unsubscribe from the AIRLINE List, please send an E-mail to: "listserv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx". Within the body of the text, only write the following:"SIGNOFF AIRLINE".