Emirates marks 20th Anniversary of Operations

Dubai-based Emirates Airline marked its 20th anniversary of successful operations yesterday.

Emirates' Chairman HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum said: "There's a sense that the airline has 'come of age', and with its solid grounding is ready to take on even bigger challenges as a leading player in global air transport."

Carrying some 12.5 million passengers and 838,000 tonnes of cargo last year, Emirates is one of the world's most profitable and one of the 20 largest international carriers. The airline has come a long way since 1985 when it had just three flights from Dubai - to Karachi, Mumbai and Delhi - operated by two leased aircraft.

Today, Emirates operates close to 200 scheduled flights per day around its network which covers 77 cities in 54 countries - an average of one flight taking off or landing every eight minutes.

Sheikh Ahmed said, "The springboard for our success has been the vision and ambition of HH General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum. Since its inception, Emirates has experienced tremendous and consistent growth averaging over 20% per year. In the past 20 years, we have flown more than 80 million passengers to their destinations, carried over 4.6 million tonnes of cargo, and as a group, contributed some US$25 billion in both direct and indirect expenditure to the UAE economy.

"From the outset, our vision was to develop an international airline that maximised Dubai's geo-strategic location to connect people and cargo to their destinations quickly and conveniently. We are proud to have lived up to that goal, and we will continue to play our part in developing Dubai as a hub for air transport, tourism and commerce."

Financially self-sustained, Emirates has consistently bucked industry trends to post record profits for the past 17 years. It is also investing in future growth with firm orders for 92 new wide-bodied aircraft including 45 super-jumbo Airbus A380s.

Sheikh Ahmed credited the airline's performance to having a strong customer focus; a solid long-term strategy supported by a steady management team; talented staff recruited from over 100 countries around the world; and a dynamic corporate culture that encourages innovation.

He added, "Our success is also intrinsically linked with Dubai. We are lucky to be based here, where a visionary government is investing billions of dollars to develop the city into a major centre for commerce and tourism. Dubai grows at around 17% annually, and by 2010 it expects to have five million residents and some 15 million visitors. Emirates needs to be ready to support and tap into this growth, and that is why we are investing heavily in our fleet, in technology and support infrastructure, as well as in recruiting and training the right people."

By 2012, Emirates expects to carry 33 million passengers annually on some 150 aircraft. To support its fast-expanding fleet, which increases by one new aircraft per month on average, Emirates is constructing a US$353 million engineering centre and a new jet engine testing facility. When completed next year, Emirates' engineering centre will be one of the biggest civil aviation maintenance facilities in the world with eight hangars fully equipped to handle heavy and light maintenance for the airline's entire fleet including the soon-to-be-delivered A380.

Sheikh Ahmed said, "The future looks bright for Emirates, with opportunities brought about by Dubai's development as well as the steady growth in demand for air travel globally. We will continue to focus on innovation, quality and customer service; expand and strengthen our network to provide more air connections that will facilitate trade and tourism flows; and invest in advanced aircraft which are not only efficient to operate but will also allow our passengers to travel further, in greater comfort."

Being based in Dubai, where over 110 airlines compete freely in an open skies regime, Emirates has honed its skills and abilities to stay at the cutting-edge of customer service. It also challenges the airline to keep finding new ways of operating more efficiently while delivering a superior experience to its customers.

The airline currently employs 15,800 staff, and operates services to 77 cities in 54 countries via its fleet of 81 wide-bodied jets. Between the beginning of last year and early next year Emirates will have launched services to a dozen new cities and increased frequencies to more than 30 existing destinations. New destinations to be introduced in coming months include Hamburg and Beijing.

See other recent news regarding: Travel News Asia, Emirates