Travel Destinations

The world’s eighth largest airline, Emirates Airlines is based in Dubai, capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Since the company was founded in’85, it has grown to serve 92 destinations in 55 countries around the world. Although it does not offer domestic service, Emirates is nonetheless the leading air carrier of the Middle East and enjoys large market share in Southeast Asia. Emirates Airlines is one of only six carriers in the world to operate a fleet consisting entirely of wide-body aircraft built by Boeing and Airbus.

The Dubai government is the founder and sole owner of Emirates Airlines, which has recorded a profit every year except for one since its founding. Emirates Airlines? growth has never fallen below 20 percent a year. In its first 11 years, it doubled in size every 3.5 years, and has every four years since. The airline?s lean workforce puts it on the equivalent with a low cost carrier. Emirates Airlines is a member of the Arab Air Carriers Organization, a regional airline trade organization of Arab airlines established in’65 by the Arab League. Its mission is to promote cooperation, quality and safety standards among the Arab airlines. Any carrier based in one of the states that belong to the Arab League may join the organization.

Emirates Airlines is owned and operated by the Dubai government, but the government does not invest money into the airline, nor does the government meddle in airline affairs, allowing the airline to function as an independent company. This arrangement seems to work well for both the airline and the government, as the airline is consistently profitable and continues to grow.

Emirates Airlines also operates Emirates SkyCargo. This airline is a cargo carrier. It is based at Dubai International Airport and functions like a passenger airline. The SkyCargo division operates nine aircraft, and Emirates SkyCargo also utilizes the cargo capacity of the passenger fleet.

Emirates became only the second operator of the Airbus A380 when their first aircraft was delivered in July 2008. The Airbus A380 flies on these routes: Dubai-New York JFK, Dubai-London Heathrow, and Dubai-Sydney-Auckland.

Although Emirates’ only hub is at Dubai International Airport, it flies to over 100 destinations in 56 countries. The company has agreements with the aviation authorities in Australia and Singapore that allow it to fly from their countries to even farther-flung destinations around the world.

Frequent fliers enjoy the benefits of Skywards, allowing them to earn or spend frequent flier miles on Emirates or any of its Skywards partners, including Korean Air, Japan Airlines, United, South African Airways, Jet Airways, Continental, Kingfisher Airlines, and Virgin Blue.

Emirates also has a stake in Dnata, one of the premier travel service organizations in the Middle East. Dnata has over 6,500 employees who take care of cargo, ramp, technical, and passenger services at Dubai International Airport.

Dnata, Emirates SkyCargo, and Emirates Airlines are all subsidiaries of The Emirates Group, an international public holding company also with headquarters in Dubai. The airline currently employs about 35,000 staff.

Tom Martens is the content syndication coordinator for South Arica?s leading Flight comparison & Booking portal, which includes Emirates Airlines amongst others.