Emirates

In March 1985, Dubai's ruler Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum tasked Maurice Flanagan with an ambitious mission: launch a new airline in five months with $10 million in seed funding. The airline had to "look good, be good, and make money" — and would receive no government subsidies or aeropolitical protection. Pakistan International Airlines provided two wet-leased aircraft — a Boeing 737-300 and an Airbus A300B4 — and crew training facilities. Emirates operated its first revenue flights on October 25, 1985, from Dubai to Karachi and Mumbai. The founding required averaging 30% annual passenger traffic growth for the following decade to justify the mission.

Emirates placed the launch customer order for the Airbus A380 — the double-deck superjumbo — in 2000. The bet was audacious: an aircraft that didn't yet exist, ordered by an airline that was still less than 20 years old, to serve a hub airport that was still being built. The A380 became the instrument of Emirates's strategy: to concentrate maximum passenger throughput through Dubai, connecting Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas through a single hub. Dubai International Airport's Terminal 3 — opened in 2008 and designed entirely around Emirates — became the world's largest terminal. Emirates accumulated 123 A380s, the largest A380 fleet by far of any airline.

Dubai's geographical position — equidistant between Europe and Southeast Asia, between Africa and the Indian subcontinent — made it a near-perfect hub for connecting intercontinental traffic. From Dubai, Emirates could reach 85% of the world's population within an eight-hour flight on the widebody aircraft its all-widebody fleet comprised. No European or American carrier operated an all-widebody fleet, meaning none could profitably fly the thin point-to-point routes that Emirates operated through its Dubai concentration. The strategy drew fierce criticism from European and American carriers claiming unfair subsidies; Emirates consistently denied receiving operational subsidies.

At the 2023 Dubai Airshow, Emirates placed orders for 90 Boeing 777X aircraft worth $52 billion — the largest aircraft order in aviation history at the time — alongside 5 additional Boeing 787 Dreamliners. The 777X, which would enter service later this decade, would replace Emirates's aging 777-300ER fleet with more fuel-efficient twin-engine widebodies. Emirates also held 65 firm orders for Airbus A350-900s, with the first A350 entering service in January 2025 on a flight to Edinburgh. The retrofit programme for existing A380s and 777s — a $5 billion investment in modernised cabins — was ongoing.

The Emirates Group reported a record profit of $6.2 billion for fiscal year 2024-25 — the highest profit in aviation history for any airline group. Revenue reached approximately $37.8 billion. Emirates airline carried 99.8 million passengers in the year, approaching 100 million for the first time. The airline's H1 FY2025-26 results confirmed the momentum: profit before tax rose 17% year-on-year to $3.3 billion. The carrier that had launched with two leased planes and $10 million in 1985 had become the most profitable airline group in the world.