Chicago, IL

Chicago- The U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council hosted a senior-level meeting and luncheon on Thursday, October 15th in Chicago at Boeing’s corporate offices to honor the CEO of Etihad Airways, James Hogan, and a senior Abu Dhabi business delegation.  The CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, James Albaugh, hosted the luncheon which attracted a broad range of senior business, economic, and political leaders.  H.E. Yousef Al Otaiba, the U.A.E. Ambassador to the U.S. and Mexico , attended the event, along with the Chairman of Abu Dhabi Airports Company, H.E. Khalifa Al Mazrouei, the Chairman of Grosvenor Capital, Michael Sacks, DLA Piper’s Co-Chairman Lee Miller, and the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development Senior Representative on the trip, H.E. Hamad Al Mass.

Danny Sebright, President of the U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council, welcomed guests to the event and said that luncheon coincided with the official launch of the new direct Etihad Airways flight between Chicago and Abu Dhabi which started last month.  The new service further strengthens Etihad’s presence in the U.S. and builds on the carrier’s current direct route between New York City and Abu Dhabi.

This gathering highlighted the growing commercial and business to business ties between the state of Illinois and the U.A.E.   Illinois exported over a half billion dollars to the country last year. Abu Dhabi has made significant investments in the state, supporting over 207,000 jobs.

As part of the visit to Chicago, The Abu Dhabi Airports Company signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Chicago Commissioner of Aviation to create sister airports relationship between Abu Dhabi and Chicago. The agreement will facilitate the transfer of management skills, best practice programs, and training between aviation officials.