Emirates, one of the world’s largest carriers, served more than 150 destinations worldwide before the beginning of the pandemic.
But this wasn’t always the case. Emirates traversed a long and hard path before becoming the aviation behemoth that it is today.
When did it all begin?
In 1984, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, then UAE Minister of Defence asked Sir Maurice Flanagan, then managing director of dnata, to look into starting an airline. By December that year, a comprehensive business plan was ready, and the name “Emirates” was chosen for the new airline.
A year later, Flanagan was tasked with the ambitious mission to launch an airline in 5 months with $10 million seed funding. There would be no subsidies or aero political protection under Dubai’s open skies policy.