United Airlines and Emirates have announced a new partnership that is currently more aspirational than practical, yet could evolve into a powerful new axis between former bitter rivals.
Details: United + Emirates Partnership
Today United and Emirates announced a new partnership at a hangar event at Washington Dulles. Live and Let’s Fly was present and two carriers put on quite a show. Announcing the news, United CEO Scott Kirby and Emirates’ Chairman Sir Tim Clark hailed the relationship as a new chapter in the once-fraught relations between the two carriers.
It was only a few years ago that United Airlines savaged Emirates for its “subsidized” Fifth Freedom service between Newark and Athens (what a difference a pandemic makes…) that threatened the viability of the route for United.
The two carriers have clearly kissed and made up and now embark upon a road that both sides hope will deepen in the months ahead. I’ll spare you the superfluous speeches, but both airline leaders expressed admiration for the vision of the other and both patted themselves on the back for more properly gauging the pandemic, specifically the return of demand, than many of their peers.
At the outset, the partnership will be limited, including the following:
- Emirates customers flying into Chicago (ORD), San Francisco (SFO), and Houston (IAH) – will have access to nearly 200 U.S. cities in the United network via an interline agreement
- In the future, codeshares are planned but require regulatory blessing
- United Airlines will also launch a new service between Newark (EWR) and Dubai (DXB) – more details on this in a subsequent report
- United customers who book from Newark to Dubai on United will be able to book Emirates or flydubai flight connections on a single ticket to 100+ destinations
- Emirates Skywards members will be able to earn miles when they travel on United
- United customers will be able to earn and redeem miles on Emirates flights if connecting from United’s Newark to Dubai flight
- United customers will have access to Emirates lounges when connecting to and from United’s new Dubai flight
Kirby promised, “Our partnerships are not partnerships of convenience, they’re not short-term deals,” and I do expect that to be the case. Right now, though, the partnership is more theoretical than practical.
CONCLUSION
Emirates and United have announced a limited partnership with interlines flights and the plan for codesharing in the months ahead. Limited reciprocal frequent flyer earnings have also been confirmed. While this is a conservative first step, it still marks a huge change from just a few years ago.
Tomorrow: My conversation with Sir Tim Clark after the ceremony
Thank you Matthew for the explanation. Your analysis is spot on. This is a very limited partnership for United. Unless a United customer flies through EWR on their Dubai flight, the partnership is quite irrelevant.
For customers who live near United’s other hubs (not EWR), there are likely faster and easier ways to get to Dubai and beyond via Lufthansa and Turkish airlines. This new agreement really only opens new 1 stop opportunities for United customers in the northeast via EWR.
What analysis?
It’ll be interesting to see how redeemable miles rates compare flying East Coast to South East Asia via the traditional United connects versus this new option via Dubai. My guess – more expensive and slim availability but I hope to be proven wrong.
Hmm, so you can earn EK Skywards miles on any UA flight. But we can only earn UA miles on EK flights if connecting off the Dubai flight from EWR? That was a waste of a ceremony, lol.
Why does United-Emirates interline agreement not including Washington Dulles (IAD), an UA hub airport which Emirates has daily flight?
I do expect UA will expand non-stop flight to Dubai from another UA hub, likely IAD, IAH, ORD?
It feels like Emirates is now looking towards joining the Star Alliance or at least are dipping their toes in Star Alliance waters with their recent moves. They recently decided to boost their partnership with Air Canada and even use Terminal 1 at YYZ after that announcement (the better terminal at YYZ). Last year, Emirates and Lufthansa extended their partnership as well. They also decided to cut off their JetBlue partnership in favor of United.
Before the pandemic, I used to be a Million Miler with Korean Air (Korean Air gutted all million milers during the pandemic right before announcing their merger with Asiana). During that time, I enjoyed flying Emirates’ first class product as a treat from time to time.
EK has long used terminal 1 at YYZ since it was the only terminal with gates to accommodate the A380.
Thanks for the correction. I probably misread an article when that talked about the Emirates and Air Canada partnership
At least they chose decent-looking UA flight attendants instead of grandmas dressed in wrinkled uniforms for this event.
Overall a giant tease with fairly limited benefits for most.
I was hopping there would be a reference to Denver. Its the only UA hub without EK service and one of the fastest growing UA hubs, would be great for onward connections for EK.