Emirates marks 20th anniversary

Dubai-Based Emirates Airline this year marks its 20th year of successful operations. Carrying some 12.5 million passengers and 838,000 tonnes of cargo last year, Emirates is the world's second most profitable and one of the 20 largest international carriers, according to The World Airline Rankings (Airline Business, August 2005).

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.

 Emirates' chairman 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.

"The springboard for our success has been the vision and ambition of General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum. Since its inception, Emirates has experienced tremendous and consistent growth averaging over 20 per cent 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."

 Financially self-sustained and unprotected, 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.

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.

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.

An industry trailblazer from its early days, the airline has already marked several "firsts" in its relatively short history. It was the first to introduce personal in-seat television screens in all classes across its entire fleet in 1992, first to operate the ultra-long haul A340-500 aircraft in 2003, first to offer "live" BBC news headlines on board, and first to introduce the concept of privacy suites in its luxurious first class service.

 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.

Emirates flies from Malta to Dubai four times weekly via Larnaca, Cyprus, on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, on Airbus A330-200. The Malta route gives a convenient connection to outgoing and incoming passengers from Australia and the Far East.