Jumbo camel jet (Site blocked to UAE viewers, hence full post below)

Forget the Airbus A380s, Dubai's national airline has a much more exciting way to fly:

Camel flies high over Dubai

Wed 1 Apr, 2009 1:23 AM GMT

DUBAI, 1 April (Reuters) - Emirates airline will put 50-metre high aerodynamic camel humps onto its aircraft in a $30 billion rebranding.

The airline is adopting the camel, the national animal of the United Arab Emirates, as its official corporate symbol.

Airbus engineers have worked closely with Emirates marketing team over the past nine months to design the extensions.

Emirates executive vice president of marketing Jamal Al Majnoon said the move was a "perfect synergy" for the airline.

"The camel is the ship of the desert and the aircraft is the ship of the sky," Mr Al Majnoon said.

"Qatar Airways has the oryx and Gulf Air has the falcon, and Etihad will soon have the desert hamster, so we are adopting Arabia's most noble animal for our own airline," he said.

Airbus senior director of engineering Frederic Fouchameau described the move as "an exceptional feat of aviation dromedisation".

Other world airlines are believed to be considering similar redesigns.

Air Astana is in talks with Boeing to improve on Emirates' design by creating a two-humped, bactrian aircraft.

But some of the construction workers at Dubai airport who caught an early glimpse of the redesigned planes are unimpressed, including indentured labourer Shamsil.

"What is the use of putting the camel's hump onto the plane?" he said.

"For it to be interesting and useful, they should have included the sensitive parts of the camel."


(Reporting by Fitz Lodd; Editing by Laila Smith)

© Thomson Reuters 2009. All Rights Reserved.