Hispanic crooner Enrique Iglesias wowed the crowds last night at a gala dinner to celebrate the start of Emirates Airline's new direct flights to Boston.
The best-selling Spanish artist charmed a crowd of hundreds of Emirates staff and special guests belting out classics Hero and Be With You as well as posing for photos with dozens of enraptured guests including the Emirates president Tim Clark.
The gala dinner at Boston's historic Wang Theatre was the latest in a series of high profile events staged by Emirates to advertise the new route.
“What destinations do people in Boston want to visit?” a well-schooled Mr Iglesias asked the crowd. “Of course they all want to come to Dubai.”
Emirates’ first direct Dubai to Boston flight touched down at Boston’s Logan International Airport on Monday, to be greeted by a traditional water cannon salute and a reception with Boston governor Deval Patrick.
The new route to Boston is the eighth in Emirates rapidly expanding list of US destinations. The airline currently runs direct flights between its Dubai hub and Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington.
In February Emirates announced it would start daily flights to Chicago on August 5 as the airline continues to attempt to cash in on the USA’s high yielding corporate traffic and to challenge US airlines like American and United.
Flights on the new route cost US$1,500 round trip economy Boston to Dubai and $12,000 first class round trip.
lbarnard@thenational.ae
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