From Desert To Riches: The History Of Emirates

By Nicholas Cummins and Justin Hayward

Updated Jul 31, 2023

Emirates has changed a lot in over 35 years of service.

Summary

• Emirates was founded in 1985 with a modest fund from private

enterprise, $10 million USD from the royal family, and support from
Pakistan International Airlines.
• The airline quickly expanded its fleet and destinations, causing rival
Gulf Air to suffer a significant cut to profits in its first year.
• Emirates has become one of the world's top airlines, known for its
luxurious cabins and premium services. It has plans to expand its
fleet with new aircraft types in the coming years.

Emirates started service in 1985, as the first flag carrier of the UAE. What
began as a small Gulf carrier had big ambitions and has become one of the
world's biggest and most luxurious airlines operating today.

Expanding the fleet

In 1987 Emirates started to expand its fleet with its first fully-owned aircraft,
an Airbus A310. Over the following years, it took on 13 A310s and seven
A300 aircraft. The same year it launched its first service to Western Europe
to London Gatwick.

Then, the following months saw Frankfurt via Istanbul and the Maldives to
the east. By the end of the year, the carrier was now serving 11 destinations.
By 1990, the airline was flying to Bangkok, Manila, and Singapore. A route
to Hong Kong followed in 1991.

The Gulf War

By the early 90s, the carrier was transporting around 1.6 million passengers
per year and was one of the world's fastest-growing airlines. During the Gulf
War, the airline continued o operate - and in fact, many routes and services
expanded as many foreign airlines restricted their flights to the region.

Following the war, routes and the fleet expanded further. Emirates
partnered with US Airways, making more flights and even round-the-world-
tickets available to passengers. By this time, its fleet was comprised of six
A300s and eight A310s flying to 37 destinations. Emirates ordered seven
Boeing 777-200 aircraft in 1992 (one 777-200 and six 777-2000ER aircraft) -
the start, of course, of a big redefinition of its fleet. The 777 allowed it to
start flights to Melbourne via Singapore in 1996.

Emirates also added more Airbus aircraft. It began to take delivery of the
A330-200 in 1999 and went on to take 29 of these. They remained in the
fleet until 2016.

The company also expanded operations and investments, taking a 40% stake
(for $70 million) in Air Lanka (later to become SriLankan Airlines) in May
1998. Emirates managed the airline until 2008, with Tim Clark taking up the
position of Managing Director. It then sold its stake to the Sri Lankan
government.

Introducing the Airbus A380

By now, in the early 2000s, Emirates was a force to be reckoned with. Like
all airlines, it suffered in 2001 following the events of September 11th, 2001.
Regionally, there was also the bombing of Colombo airport the same year.

Nevertheless, it soon showed its strength with some very large aircraft
orders. Between 2004 and 2011, the airline significantly expanded its
Boeing 777 fleet, placing orders for 114 Boeing 777-300ER aircraft and 10
further Boeing 777-200LR aircraft.

With Airbus, it ordered 20 A340 aircraft (it would later cancel some of these
orders) and, of course, the Airbus A380. The first A380 aircraft were
delivered in 2008. Emirates also opened the first dedicated A380 concourse
in Dubai in 2015.
Pivoting the airlines' role to America and Asia

From here, Emirates focused on taking out their main rivals, such as British
Airways, Air France and Lufthansa, by replacing them on lucrative Asia to
North America routes. Many flyers traveling from India and South Asia now
found they could fly via Dubai to North America instead of through London,
Paris, or Frankfurt.

As other aircraft retired and more A380s were ordered, Emirates became
known as only operating the Boeing 777 and the Airbus A380 (as it remain
today). By 2020, its fleet comprised 115 A380s and 151 777s. Of course, it
stands apart in making the A380 work so well, while other airlines have
struggled with it. Economies of scale and Emirates' major hub-based
network have been the leading reasons for this.

As it has grown, Emirates has followed other airlines in introducing loyalty

and frequent flyer schemes. Unusually, it chose not to join any of the main
frequent flyer schemes or alliances and shared benefits this way. Instead, it
introduced its own program, Skywards, in 2000. It uses this in a similar but
less formalized way to alliances. Emirates has built a network of partner
airlines where frequent travelers can collect and use miles and share
limited tier benefits with some.

Emirates today

Emirates has grown to be one of the top airlines globally, especially when
considering premium cabin. In 2016, it won the Skytrax airline of the year
award for the first time (in 20023. it sits in fourth place). It has introduced
some of the best first class products in the sky - especially as many airlines
are now withdrawing the cabin.

It has also introduced a fourth cabin of premium economy. It did this later
than many other airlines, but has joined them now in seeing the appeal. It
introduced this on just a few A380 aircraft in 2021, but is expanding it
quickly.