Alaska and Emirates airlines start flights in March

Tech workers from India who have a lot of frequent-flier miles on Alaska Airlines will have an easier option back to their home country starting March 1.Under a new frequent flier partnership with Seattle-based Alaska announced Jan. 19, people will be able to fly from Seattle to Dubai non-stop on Emirates Airline for about 100,000 frequent-flier miles. The Dubai-based carrier, which starts Seattle service March 1, operates 185 flights weekly between Dubai and 10 Indian cities, just one to two hours away.

They now have a much easier way to go to India with this route,said Sam Kaplan, president of the Trade Development Alliance of Greater Seattle, at a press event today (Jan. 19). About 40,000 people of Indian origin now live in the state, he said.Current routes to India involve flying across the Pacific to Asian cities then catching connecting flights to India, or flying the other way, connecting through Europe. The Emirates aircraft will instead fly over the Arctic, 14 hours and 30 minutes from Seattle to Dubai.

The Boeing 777s that Emirates will operate on the daily route will feature eight first-class suites, with a full bed and 27-inch screen, for a mere $15,000 round-trip, said Nigel Page, senior vice of operations for the Americas. The 777s will hold 354 people.Page estimated that about 60 percent of the passengers flights between Seattle and Dubai will continue on to other destinations, most of them to India, Africa, and other Middle Eastern points.