The Flying Khalifa

The Emirates story started in 1985 when it launched operations with just two aircraft. Akanksha Maker reports on its operations in India and around the world

October 25, 1985 is a memorable day for the Dubai-based airline, Emirates. This was when it began operations with just two aircraft — a leased Boeing 737 and an Airbus 300 B4.

INDIA Around the time of its launch, Emirates started flights from its hub in Dubai to Mumbai. It now flies to nine destinations in India — Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram — with a weekly frequency of 172 flights. The number of flights to India is the highest for Emirates in any market.

Its international capacity flying out of India forms 9.5 percent, behind Jet Airways with 13.8 percent and Air India with 11.2 percent of the market share. Last year, Emirates carried 5.5 million passengers on its routes to Indian cities, totalling to 41.9 million passengers carried in the past decade. Data collected by the airline for the same period also shows that around 38 percent of Emirates’ India passengers travelled to or from the hubs of Delhi and Mumbai, and 62 percent travelled to or from non-hub points of India (mostly South India). This exemplifies the importance of the Dubai-based carrier across the geography of India.