Emirates undertakes marathon evaluation journey

A TEAM from Emirates is now back in Dubai evaluating a mass of information gained from one of the longest flights in the airline's history. It turned a routine Airbus delivery into a full-scale technical evaluation for the launch of ultra-long-range services on air routes through Polar regions, such as Dubai/Los Angeles.
The 15 hour 20 minute Polar flight, one of Emirates' longest-ever to date, covered 7 250 nautical miles, just 250 nautical miles less than a typical Dubai/Los Angeles service.
Today's crew duty and rest regulations were never designed for the ultra long-range missions that the A340-500 will be capable of undertaking. So the recent flight, carrying four flight crew instead of the usual two, will provide feedback that ultimately will help develop suitable new regulations.