DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Judging from the popularity of the Broadway show “Boeing Boeing” and plans for a television series based on the world of Pam Am stewardesses, the public seems to long for the days when airlines prided themselves on their flight attendants and the pampering they provided.

Those days are long gone for most carriers. But some long-haul airlines are betting that service that harks back to the glory days of flying will give them an edge.

Emirates Airline is one of them. The airline, one of the fastest growing carriers in the world, plays a crucial role in making Dubai the center of a network that links the West and the East. It is using the image of an Emirates flight attendant — her smiling face beneath the signature red hat — on its Web site, on advertisements and even on duty-free shopping bags to make the point, as one airline executive put it, that the service provided by Emirates is of “the utmost significance.”

“It is what we are judged on more than anything else,” said the executive, Terry Daly, a senior vice president at the airline.