Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/777084
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 25 JANUARY 2017 17 EMIRATES will launch a new daily service from Dubai to New- ark Liberty International Air- port, via the Greek capital city of Athens, starting on 12 March 2017. The new route complements Emirates' existing four daily f lights between Dubai and New York 's JFK airport, by offering global travellers with another convenient access point to the popular New York Metropolitan area. Emirates' new Dubai-Athens- Newark f light will also provide a year-round non-stop daily ser- vice between the United States and Greece – a service that does not exist today and has not ex- isted since 2012. The airline will operate a wide-body Boeing 777-300ER powered by General Electric GE90 engines on the route, offering 8 seats in First, 42 seats in Business and 304 seats in Economy class, as well as 19 tonnes of belly-hold cargo capac- ity. Sir Tim Clark, President of Emirates Airline said: "The Greek Government and Ath- ens International Airport ap- proached Emirates some time ago to consider serving the route between Athens and New York. After careful review, Emirates concluded that extending one of our Dubai-Athens f lights to Newark would be commercially and operationally feasible. We are pleased to be able to help meet a strong consumer need long neglected by other airlines, and we would like to thank the authorities and our partners in both the US and Greece for their support of the new route." Sir Tim added: "The availabil- ity of high quality, daily inter- national air services is essential for the development of busi- ness and cultural ties. Trade, especially in high-value and time-sensitive products, will be facilitated by the ample cargo ca- pacity on Emirates' Boeing 777 aircraft. We also expect tourism to receive a major boost from the availability of daily f lights year- round." Elena Kountoura, Minister of Tourism of the Hellenic Repub- lic said: "Within the framework of our excellent cooperation, and in line with our common goal for the growth of tourism be- tween our two countries as well as the expansion to long-haul markets, I would like to thank Emirates for having positively considered our request to launch a new Emirates itinerary con- necting Dubai with New York via Athens all year round. This strategic choice substantially supports our efforts at the Min- istry of Tourism to enhance the already increasing f low of visi- tors to Greece from the United States and the UAE on a yearly basis, travelling either for leisure or business purposes." Endy Zemenides, Executive Di- rector of the Hellenic American Leadership Council said: "The Greek-American community has long been anticipating the rees- tablishment of year round direct travel between Greece and the United States. For this moment to arrive thanks to Emirates - the world's top airline - is special in- deed. Greece's economic come- back is going to have to include year round tourism and easier business travel. The new Emir- ates route makes this possible. The Greek-American communi- ty will be thrilled with this new itinerary, and we thank Emirates Airline for establishing its route and for its endorsement of travel to Greece." The United States and Greece have long maintained close economic relations as well as a strong national security alli- ance. For decades, the United States has advocated policies that promote and foster eco- nomic growth and further op- portunities for U.S. investment in Greece. The United States is also home to the largest overseas Greek community in the world, numbering approximately 1.3 million, and the New York City metropolitan area has the largest community of Greek Americans in the country. In addition to serving the large Greek-American population in the New York City metropolitan area, the availability of one-stop same-plane service to Dubai will offer a convenient alternative to travellers headed towards the Middle East, West Asia, and Af- rica. Emirates operates one of the youngest and most modern f leets in the sky, with an average f leet age of just 61 months, compared to the industry average of 140 months. Emirates' Boeing 777- 300ER aircraft serving the new Dubai-Athens-Newark route will offer high levels of comfort and high quality service with private suites in First class, lie-f lat seats in Business, and ergonomically designed cabins in Economy. Passengers in all cabin classes can enjoy the friendly service from Emirates' international cabin crew, meals prepared by gourmet chefs, and over 2,500 channels of the latest movies, TV shows, and music hits on its award-winning ice inf light en- tertainment system. Flight details and connections to Emirates' global network Emirates f light EK209 will de- part Dubai at 10:50 local time, arriving in Athens at 14:25 be- fore departing again at 16:40 and arriving into Newark at 22:00 on the same day. The return f light EK210 will depart Newark at 23:45 local time, arriving in Ath- ens the next day at 15:05. EK210 will depart once again from Ath- ens at 17:10 bound for Dubai where it will arrive at 23:50, fa- cilitating convenient onward connections to over 50 Emirates destinations in India, the Far East and Australia. Emirates operates daily sched- uled f lights between Malta and Dubai. From 1 February, Emir- ates will be re-routing its daily service between Dubai and Malta via Larnaca, Cyprus, us- ing a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. The airline is currently offering customers an early bird offer in Economy Class starting from €143 per person for outbound travel until 31 December 2017. Tickets booked and purchased till 28 February 2017. For f light bookings or more information, visit emirates.com. Events RE/MAX named #1 real estate franchise for fifth consecutive year RE/MAX, LLC, one of the world's leading franchisors of real estate brokerage services, once again held the top position among real estate brands in the annual Franchise 500® survey by Entrepreneur magazine. The growth rate, financial stabil- ity and size of the RE/MAX system also propelled the franchisor into the top 10 of all franchises included in the listing. This year's ranking marks the 14th time in 18 years that RE/MAX has been listed as the top franchisor in the real estate cat- egory. "Many of our franchisees gravi- tated to the RE/MAX model be- cause our focus has always been on the needs of the agent," said Chris Pflueger, Vice President, Business Development, RE/MAX, LLC. "We provide our broker/owners with the leading-edge tools, on-demand education, global brand recognition and more than 40 years of industry- leading experience to attract and re- cruit the top performing real estate agents in their markets." Whilst congratulating Re/Max LLC for this great achievement Kevin Buttigieg, Managing Direc- tor of Re/Max Malta said that "we are proud to be associated with this global franchise which year in, year out has placed in the top echelons of Entrepreneur's Franchise 500®. Working with Re/Max and its glob- al partners has helped us to enhance our level of service both in terms of our product offering and the skills set of our sales associates. " Highlights of the 38th Annual Franchise 500 survey include: • RE/MAX ranked the #1 real estate franchise • RE/MAX ranked #10 overall, up from #21 in 2016 and #75 in 2015 • Closest RE/MAX competitors were HomeVestors of America at #52 and Keller Williams Realty at #77 Entrepreneur magazine's an- nual Franchise 500 is the oldest and most comprehensive franchise ranking in the world. The prestig- ious survey judges all companies by the same criteria: objective, quanti- fiable measures of a franchise oper- ation. The most important factors include financial strength and sta- bility, growth rate and size of a sys- tem. Franchise 500 also considers the number of years a company has been in business and the length of time it has been franchising, start- up costs, litigation, percentage of closures and whether the company provides financing. To be eligible, companies must have at least ten units, including at least one in the U.S., and provide a franchise disclo- sure document. An impressive 988 companies were considered for the 2017 Franchise 500 ranking. RE/MAX also was recently ranked the leading real estate fran- chise for the eighth consecutive year in the annual Franchise Times Top 200+® listing. Additionally, con- tinued growth and a steady increase in the number of locations pushed the global franchisor of real estate brokerages into the top 10 fran- chises included in the survey. RE/ MAX ranked #8 overall, up from #11 in 2015, #12 in 2014 and #14 in 2013. The growth of RE/MAX sales countered the trend of the 10 larg- est franchised brands collectively losing system-wide sales for the first time in the history of the listing. Franchise Times Top 200+ is recog- nized as a leading franchise rank- ing list of the 200 largest franchise systems in the U.S. by global sales based on the previous year's data. Emirates to launch daily service to Newark via Athens