ONE MORE THING:THEY WERE practically dancing on the ceiling at the Conference Centre Dublin on Tuesday night as Dubai airline Emirates spared no expense to entertain its 800 guests at the official launch of its new route to Dublin.
No less an entertainer than Lionel Ritchie and his entourage were flown in to provide the post-dinner entertainment – all night long.
Sharon Corr was the glamourous MC and there was even a dance ensemble to keep travel trade representatives and the smattering of politicians entertained as they quaffed Champagne and fine wines.
Emirates has poured a fortune into marketing the new Dublin-Dubai route – which takes off on January 9th – branding a Dart and saturating traditional advertising avenues.
Meanwhile, its Abu Dhabi rival Etihad has announced that it will use the new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner on its Dublin route some time after 2014.
The airline, which has a four-year start on Emirates in Ireland, has placed a large order with Boeing for the 300-seat aircraft, and said it would initially fly the aircraft on routes to Dublin, Frankfurt, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, Delhi and Istanbul, as well as Nagoya in Japan.
The battle between Emirates and Etihad for passengers from Ireland to the Middle East and beyond is shaping up to be an interesting contest.