Emirates President Tim Clark named Denver, Detroit and Philadelphia as possible new US destinations for nonstop Dubai flights. He did not identify an aircraft or commit to a launch, and the timeline depends on new aircraft deliveries from the airline's order book.
Emirates President Sir Tim Clark named Denver, Detroit and Philadelphia as possible new US destinations for nonstop flights to Dubai during a conference. He made the comments in an Oct. 21 interview at the Routes World conference in Frankfurt, Germany. Emirates hinted at the likelihood of launching flights to Detroit, Denver and Philadelphia. Detroit does not currently have a nonstop flight to Dubai.
No commitment on aircraft or launch
Clark did not identify an aircraft or commit to a launch for the possible new U.S. routes. He said aircraft choice would depend largely on market size and distance. The timeline for the potential launches depends on new aircraft delivery from the Emirates order book. Clark also said there are not many cities in the world that Emirates would be unable to reach if it wanted to.
Distances and fleet
The Dubai-Denver trip would span 7,758 miles, compared with 7,083 miles to Detroit and 6,928 miles to Philadelphia. Late-2025 fleet figures show 235 of 269 Emirates aircraft were A380s or 777-300ERs, while the airline had 13 A350-900s. The airline had no 787 in service despite 35 on order. The A350-900, Emirates' smallest widebody, was entering US service to Orlando on November 1 with 298 seats.
Background on US service
Emirates currently serves 12 US airports, and a new route would be its first new US station since Miami returned in June 2021. In spring 2025, then-Denver airport CEO Phil Washington said the airport's next new route would likely be Dubai with Emirates, but Emirates said it had no official plans to serve Denver. Emirates and United have been codeshare partners since 2023.
