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Emirates history
Emirates company history timeline
The carriers' first flight was Dubai–Karachi on 25 October 1985 (EK600).
Our story begins in 1985 with Gulf Air, the regional carrier flying around the Gulf area of the Middle East.
New international destinations were quickly added, with a nonstop service to London Gatwick joining the network in early July, 1987.
Other destinations added in 1987 were Frankfurt via Istanbul, and Male (Maldive Islands). Emirates lacked a regional feeder network since most of its neighboring countries were shareholders in rival Gulf Air.
Emirates Sky Cargo, which operated as a separate entity, carried 25,000 tons of freight in fiscal 1989.
Emirates expanded its route network into the Far East in 1990, serving Bangkok, Manila, and Singapore.
1991 would also prove to be a landmark moment in Emirates’ history as this was the year that they were finally able to obtain a slot at the ever growing London Heathrow Airport which was fast establishing itself as a hub for world business.
By the time the decade was closing up the airliner was flying to Bangkok, Manila, Singapore and a route to Hong Kong followed in 1991.
Seven state-of-the-art Boeing 777s worth $1 billion were on order since 1992 to satisfy long-range ambitions.
Revenues increased by about $100 million a year, approaching $500 million in fiscal 1993.
A partnership agreement with US Airlines entered in the fall of 1993 allowed Emirates to offer around-the-world service.
In early 1994, the airline had no less than 4,000 employees, carrying two million passengers a year between 34 destinations with a fleet of 18 Airbus aircraft.
As 1995 grew closer to ending, Emirates was celebrating its 10th birthday.
Dubai to Singapore to Melbourne, operated by their new Boeing 777-200 in 1996, opened the gateway to Oceania.
They began to arrive in the spring of 1996.
In the fall of 1997, a new air-conditioned maintenance center allowed the group (which consisted of Emirates Airlines and DNATA) to solicit third-party contracts in that capacity as well.
A record group profit of AED 371 million was achieved in 1997-98.
1997: New training and maintenance centers open.
In 1998, Emirates Sky Cargo was launched.
1998: Emirates buys a 40 percent stake in Air Lanka.
A new, lighthearted advertising campaign launched in January 1999 enjoined travelers to 'Be good to yourself.
In the year of 1999 Emirates received the first of 17 new-generation Airbus aircraft, the Airbus A330-200.
In April 2000, Emirates placed an order to become the first launch customer for the Airbus A3XX, now known as Airbus A380 – the largest civil aircraft built so far.
Toward the end of 2000, Emirates was planning to start ultra-long-haul service to the East Coast and West Coast of the United States as well as nonstop flights to Australia and Argentina.
In late 2001, in the wake of the terrorist attacks in New York, Emirates braced for a shock that would reduce their bottom line like all airlines in the world.
In 2001, Emirates demonstrated its confidence in the industry’s future growth by announcing the largest order in aviation history, valued at USD 15 billion.
By the year of 2002, Emirates had seen their passenger figures increase 18 percent to over 6.8 million whilst worldwide figures dropped by four percent.
In 2003, they celebrated their return to form with an order for 75 more aircraft, 26 Boeing 777-300ERs and 23 Airbus A380s.
In 2004, Emirates began flying non-stop services to New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport using their then new Airbus A340-500 Aircraft.
In November 2005, the first A380-800 in full Emirates livery arrived in Dubai, being displayed at the Dubai Airshow 2005.
In 2005 Emirates then ordered an additional 42 Boeing 777s in a deal worth $9.7 billion which is marked as the largest Boeing 777 order in history.
In 2005, Emirates began flying non-stop to New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, using the new Airbus A340-500.
At the 2006 Farnborough Air Show, Emirates signed a Heads of Agreement for 10 of Boeing’s new 747-8F aircraft, to be powered by General Electric’s GEnx jet engines, in a deal worth USD 3.3 billion.
Emirates signs a GBP100 million deal with English Premiership club Arsenal, including naming rights to its new stadium for 15 years and shirt sponsorship for eight years, starting from the 2006/07 season.
The airline planned to order up to a dozen of the planes, with the first to be delivered in 2006.
By January 2008, Emirates announced that they would be ending the management contract they had with SriLankan Airlines from April of 2008.
On the 1st of August, 2008, Emirates operated its first A380-800 commercial flight, carrying 489 passengers from Dubai to New York.
In 2009, with the delivery of the 78th plane, Emirates became the world’s largest operator of the Boeing 777.
In 2010, in line with the airline’s strategic growth plan, Emirates increased its order for new aircraft: 32 Airbus A380s at the Berlin Airshow and 30 Boeing 777-300ERs at the Farnborough Airshow.
In September 2012, Emirates and Qantas announced that they have signed a 10-year agreement to set up a major alliance.
In 2013, Emirates, rated as a four-star airline by Skytrax, was voted Airline of the Year at the World Airline Awards..
The order for the A350’s was later canceled on June 1, 2014, driven by Airbus changing the A350 with more powerful Rolls-Royce Trent XWBs, which is a different aircraft from the original contract that Emirates agreed upon.
Emirates order-book stands at more than 300 aircraft, with a total value of approximately USD 138 billion as of June 2014.
In March 2016 the airline started operation of the world’s longest A380 service from Dubai to Auckland, which is a flight time of 17 hours and 15 minutes, even though this service was later changed to be operated by a Boeing 777.
Emirates is the largest operator of the A380, with the 100th A380 joining its fleet in November 2017, and also the world’s largest Boeing 777 operator with over 130 aircraft in service.
Even now in 2017, Emirates continues to place large orders for aircraft as they continue to move towards their goal of eventually moving some of its operations into Dubai World Central Airport.
In March 2018, Emirates unveiled a brand new configuration on Boeing B777-200LR aircraft, with new wider seats laid out in a 2-2-2 configuration for the first time.
In 2018, Emirates carried over 59 million passengers on an average of over 3,700 passenger flights per week to 157 destinations.
In 2019, Emirates and China Southern Airlines signed a Memorandum of Understanding for a codeshare agreement.
From mid-June 2020, Emirates began a gradual restoration of its network and hub connectivity.
Passenger levels dropped by 70% in 2020, and the airlines furloughed almost a quarter of its employees.
From zero scheduled passenger flights at the start of the financial year to operations in over 120 destinations by March 31, 2021, Emirates has shown its ability to adapt and respond to challenges, as well as the resilience of its people and business model.
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| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ata Airlines | - | - | 5,000 | 17 |
| Cathay Pacific | 1946 | $14.2B | 15 | - |
| China Airlines | 1959 | $4.8B | 15 | - |
| VT Mobile Aerospace Engineering, Inc. | 1991 | $550.0M | 1,300 | - |
| Allegiant Air | 1997 | $2.5B | 4,000 | 25 |
| Aeroflot | 1923 | $10.5B | 15 | - |
| Kingfisher Airlines | 2003 | $3.4B | 5,696 | - |
| Pinnacle Solutions | 2008 | $45.3M | 50 | - |
| Japan Airlines | - | $1.5T | 5 | - |
| AGS | - | $4.5M | 35 | 19 |
Emirates history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Emirates, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Emirates. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Emirates. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Emirates. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Emirates and its employees or that of Zippia.
Emirates may also be known as or be related to Emirates and Emirates Airline.