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Emirates Airline

Emirates Airline Overview

Emirates is the largest airline in the Middle East and the UAE’s national flag carrier.

Its inaugural flights took off in 1985 from Dubai to Karachi and Mumbai in a Boeing 737 and an Airbus 300 B4 leased from Pakistan International Airlines.

The airline now operates more than 3,600 weekly flights from Terminal 3 of Dubai International Airport.

Emirates flies to more than 150 cities in 80 countries and has a fleet of nearly 250 aircraft, while its cargo division, Emirates SkyCargo, is one of the world’s largest international cargo airlines.

The Emirates fleet consists of Airbus A380s and Boeing 777s, with the A350 coming soon.

Emirates says it is “committed to environmental stewardship” and focuses on reducing emissions and “responsible consumption”. It has allocated more than $200 million to research projects for sustainable fuels.

In October 2023 Emirates signed a deal with Shell Aviation to supply over 300,000 gallons of blended sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for use at Dubai International Airport.

The following month an Emirates A380 completed a 45-minute test flight with one of the aircraft’s four engines 100 percent powered by SAF.

The airline is a subsidiary of The Emirates Group, which is owned by the government of Dubai’s Investment Corporation of Dubai.

Emirates Airline News

Red Bull will not put its logo on the Al Ahly team's shirts or around the team's stadium in Cairo

Boost for Arab soccer as Red Bull sponsors Al Ahly

Egypt’s most successful football club has kicked off what could become a sponsorship rush from European companies into the country’s top league. Al Ahly of Cairo, winners of 44 Egyptian Premier League titles and 12 Confederation of African Football Champions League titles, has agreed a marketing partnership with the Austrian drinks company Red Bull.  No […]

Emirates president Tim Clark said the airline is not optimistic about Boeing 777X deliveries in October 2025

Emirates to spend $5bn on refitting 220 aircraft

UAE flag carrier Emirates will spend around $5 billion on refitting 220 of its aircraft in order to sustain its network, president Tim Clark said on Wednesday, as the industry struggles with delivery delays for newer jets. “We have no choice,” Clark told reporters. “This one is the only way we could sustain the network, grow the network.” […]

Airbus is considering establishing maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities for the A400M in the UAE

Airbus weighs production of military aircraft parts in UAE

European planemaker Airbus is exploring the possibility of manufacturing components and setting up a maintenance facility for the A400M, a military transport aircraft, in the UAE. The plan includes integrating local entities – including EPI, part of defence company Edge Group, and Strata, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi investment vehicle Mubadala – into the A400M’s global aerospace […]

Passengers board an Etihad Airways airplane at Abu Dhabi; the airline plans to carry 33 million passengers by the end of the decade

Etihad IPO likely to attract ‘significant’ investor interest

Abu Dhabi-owned Etihad Airways is likely to attract “significant” investor interest if and when it sells shares in an initial public offering expected in March in the first Gulf Arab airline IPO in almost 20 years, analysts have said. Owned by Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ, the airline may raise as much as $1 […]

Qatar Airways' stake in Virgin Australia will challenge the dominance of Australia's national carrier Qantas

Qatar Airways gets nod to buy 25% of Virgin Australia

The Australian government has cleared an offer by state-backed Qatar Airways to acquire a minority 25 percent stake in Virgin Australia from Bain Capital, a US private equity company, the companies said in a statement.  The Gulf carrier made the offer to buy the stake in October, but the Australian transport minister, Catherine King, rejected […]

Airport, Aircraft, Takeoff

Emirates explores more China destinations

Emirates intends to fly to more cities in China this year. The airline plans to start daily flights to Shenzhen using Boeing’s widebody 777 jets by mid-year, Bloomberg said, citing informed sources. The launch date has been postponed multiple times due to delivery delays from Boeing and Airbus and a retrofit programme, the sources said. In addition, […]

Aircraft, Airliner, Airplane

SalamAir to expand fleet as budget travel demand rises

SalamAir, Oman’s first low-cost airline, plans to expand its fleet with 10 new aircraft over the next three years amid a rising surge in budget travel, the company said in a statement. The airline has formally requested 10 Airbus A320 aircraft with multiple leasing companies to support its growth strategy over the coming five years, […]