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“There’s an old Emirates slogan: keep discovering. Now the people of Dubai and the people of Washington can discover more about each other,” said Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade Francisco Sànchez, at a Dulles International Airport news conference marking the debut of Emirates Airlines in Virginia.

With a bustling crowd lining up in long queues behind the ticket counters, the Washington debut—Emirates’ third this year following Dallas last February and Seattle in March—looks promising. The Washington area is the airline’s 8^th U.S. destination since it first touched down at New York’s JFK in 2004.

Passengers can now enjoy non-stop direct flights to Dubai and other Emirates destinations aboard the Boeing 777-300 ER which provides ‘eight private suites in First Class, 42 lie-flat beds in Business Class and 304 seats in Coach.

“Although Dubai and Dulles are more than 7,000 miles apart, this landmark flight brings us closer together. It enhances our cultural understanding and it strengthens our economic bond,” Sànchez remarked.

The airline’s presence is considered an economic boost to the Washington area. The design, creation and manufacture of the airline’s First Class cabins and various parts could support over 100,000 skilled American jobs in more than a dozen states, according to the carrier. As one of the main carriers for U.S. export goods including machinery, oil-drilling equipment and food, the debut in Dulles opens the state as another key link to foreign trade.

The carrier will fill 18 permanent staff positions for its DC operations, according to US Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations, Orhan Abbas. The new operation will also conduct pilot recruitment drives in the coming months to add to the ranks of Emirates’ 850 American pilots and cabin crew flying nationally and internationally.

“By launching a service from Dulles in particular, it has allowed Emirates to position ourselves to support the region's highly diverse population and its thriving ethnic communities, as well as its multitude of international institutions and foreign-owned companies, by providing one stop connections for those with business or personal reasons to fly to the Indian Subcontinent, the Far East, Middle East and Africa in particular,” said Abbas.

One issue raised at the news conference was if the company expects consumer wariness about flying to the Middle East is reason to be wary, in light of the present tensions and outbreaks of violence.

“We remain hugely optimistic,” said Tim Clark, Emirates president. “ We have to be in our business as it continues to grow. There are issues, but we are confident they will get resolved,”

Clark envisions a carrier that does much more than simply take people from point A to point B.

“We see ourselves as an enabler of new experiences, linking new markets to the world, setting new standards for innovation and service, and enabling our customer’s to enjoy tomorrow’s air travel, today,” he said.