IFC,
I’ve always envisioned flying to every Emirates destination in Infinite Flight, so I’ve made a personal challenge to fly to every current Emirates destination as a member of Dubai Virtual Airlines!
Background
My admiration for Emirates began when I started flying again after the pandemic. My first flight was San Francisco-Dubai, which at the time was temporarily serviced by the Boeing 77W. But I learned just two days before my flight that it would actually be in the A380! As a casual aviation fan, this was exciting news, especially growing up and always wanting to fly in an A380. This ultimately rekindled my enthusiasm for aviation, and eventually I found myself looking for a flight simulator where I could fly an A380–that’s when I found Infinite Flight! As I spent more time on IF, I realized the constant urge to do Emirates flights. A combination of monitoring OMDB on Flightradar24 and my amazement at all the flights on the departure/arrival boards at Dubai International Airport, fed this urge. So for a more meaningful experience I joined Dubai Virtual Airlines, and kickstarted my goal to fly to every current Emirates destination in Infinite Flight!
Flight Rules
My goal is to fly to every current Emirates destination with the following criteria:
- Routes & aircraft are determined by the current IRL Emirates service to the destination.
- A round trip—consisting of the Outbound, Return, and any Connecting flights—must be flown. The destination is considered COMPLETE when the round trip from OMDB is complete.
- A new destination cannot be flown to until the round trip of the previous destination has been completed.
- Each flight must be flown as a member of Dubai Virtual Airlines, with their SOPs & rank guidelines.
- My callsign on these flights: Emirates 086VA
Lastly, to help motivate my goal—I cannot fly to my favorite destinations, San Francisco and Manila, until I have completed every other route!
What will make this challenge more interesting is that I am flying it as a member of Dubai Virtual Airline progressing through their ranks—meaning I must start with shorter routes and progress toward longer routes and higher-ranking aircraft such as the A380 and A350.
Distinguishing Routes & Destinations
Definitions
A destination is the airport/city that a flight originating from OMDB arrives at.
A route refers to the service to or from a destination.
(“Service” refers to a flight operated between two cities.)
Non-Stop Route
The most common route is a Non-Stop Route. For the purpose of this challenge, this includes either the outbound leg from OMDB or the return leg back to OMDB.
Example: KSFO
- OMDB → KSFO = 1 route
- KSFO → OMDB = 1 route
Fifth Freedom Route
Sometimes service to a destination includes a stopover before continuing to or from OMDB. For this challenge, such services are considered Fifth Freedom Routes.
Examples: KEWR, LGAV
- OMDB → LGAV → KEWR = 2 routes
- KEWR → LGAV → OMDB = 2 routes
Multiple Routes, Same Destination
Some destinations are served both by a Fifth Freedom Route and a separate Non-Stop Route. For this challenge, each are counted as a distinct route.
Example: FSIA, FMMI
- OMDB → FSIA = 1 route
- FSIA → OMDB = 1 route
- OMDB → FSIA → FMMI = 2 routes
- FMMI → FSIA → OMDB = 2 routes
Multiple Routes, Multiple Aircraft Types, Same Destination
In addition to a Non-Stop Route and Fifth Freedom Route, some destinations are served by more than one aircraft type. For this challenge, each aircraft-specific route is considered separate.
Example: WSSS
- OMDB → WSSS (77W) = 1 route
- WSSS → OMDB (77W) = 1 route
- OMDB → WSSS (A380) = 1 route
- WSSS → OMDB (A380) = 1 route
- OMDB → WSSS → VDPP (77W) = 2 routes
- VDPP → WSSS → OMDB (77W) = 2 routes
Info
This spreadsheet contains the list of the routes that will be flown by aircraft. It will also have the most up-to-date information on my progress.
Feel free to use the spreadsheet to inspire your own Emirates flights as well! As new Emirates routes are announced, I will be adding those as well.
Info
When a destination & route is completed, I will post an update with the completion date and a few photos.
Each update will also include additional information that will provide a general idea of my current progress.
This is something I’m not inclined to grind through, and will probably take me over a year. With that said, I cannot guarantee finishing it, but I can say that I am very motivated to, especially since I truly enjoy flying Emirates’s routes.
Completion Criteria
The challenge is considered complete when all up-to-date routes and destinations have been completed. This means if there are no outstanding “current” routes or destinations left to do, then the final 2 (+ Dubai) destinations (RPLL & KSFO) will be attempted.
Due to the constant schedule/aircraft changes in real world operations, there may be “post-challenge” routes and destinations that will be completed after RPLL and KSFO.
Disclaimer: This activity is for entertainment only and it and the individual(s) participating in it have no affiliation to Emirates and The Emirates Group and their subsidiaries.
but flying the return leg is really important to me, and I get a blast learning the SID’s of the new airports I fly to (which I probably wouldn’t bother to fly at).
