Emirates is the national airline of the United Arab Emirates. Founded in 1985, it quickly expanded, due to economical success. With a fleet of more than 90 aircraft, around 90 destinations all over the world are served. The airline has ordered more than 100 further planes, among them 45 Airbus A380. Main Emirates hub is Dubai International Airport.
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Emirates was launched on October 25, 1985, by the government of Dubai. It is the official airline of the United Arab Emirates. Firstly, one Boeing 737-200 and an Airbus A300, both leased from Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), flew to Bombay, Delhi and Karachi. Soon after that, two Boeing 727-200 were added, before Emirates took delivery of several newly built Airbus A310-300s and A300-600Rs.
Supported by these new aircraft, Emirates began to expand their route network. London-Gatwick was added in 1987 as the first European destination, Singapore followed in June 1990.
In April 1998, Emirates purchased Air Lanka, which later changed its name to Sri Lankan Airlines.
The Emirates’ economical story has always been a story of success. They only received some start-up capital and some further support in the beginnings from the Dubai government, since then they have only paid dividends to their owner. Only in their second year, Emirates has not created any profit.
The total net profit for 2005 was 762 million US dollars, which is an increase of 27% compared to the previous year. This was managed, although 2005 was a hard year for airlines due to high fuel prices and natural disasters in South East Asia.
As a consequence of this economical success, Emirates owns a fleet of 92 aircraft with another 123 planes on order, among them 45 Airbus A380-800s. Emirates will be the third airline to receive the big Airbus after Singapore Airlines and Qantas.
The Emirates’ route network is expanded to Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania and North America.
In the financial year 2005/2006, Emirates flew 14.5 million passengers and one million tons of cargo with their fleet of aircraft with an average age of 61 months.
In November 2006, the airline has signed a deal with AeroMobile, allowing Emirates passengers to use their personal mobile phones onboard selected Boeing 777.
The airline has won the award airline of the year of Diners Club Magazine in the consecutive years 2004, 2005 and 2006 as well as the award for the best inflight entertainment by Skytrax in 2006. In order to further improve this, as from mid-2007 a docking capability for the iPod will be integrated into Emirates planes.
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