Emirates Airline EK  

Emirates Airline (EK)

Emirates Airlines general information

Emirates Airline (airline code EK) is a Dubai based carrier launched in October 1985 with first flights to Karachi in Pakistan and Mumbai (then Bombay) in India. At the end of February 2009, EK had flights on routes to 101 cities in 61 different countries, with about 100 flights a week just to the UK (91 in January 2007). From 14 October 2008, EK started transferring passenger arrivals and departures from Dubai Airport Terminal 1 (T1) to the new Terminal 3 (T3), starting with GCC and USA flights. Passengers on flights to other destinations were gradually phased over to T3 from October to December 2008 after which all EK departures from, and arrivals to, Dubai operated out of T3 (most other airlines operate from Terminal 1). The actual flights went to and from the new Concourse 2 connected to Terminal 3 but confusingly, a few Emirates aircraft still arrived at, or departed from, Concourse 1 (the Sheikh Rashid Terminal) which meant that passengers had to scurry back and forth from T3. See the Dubai Airport information with a more detailed explanation of the terminal vs concourse difference.

Emirates Airline or Emirates Airlines?

• Actually, the correct name for the airline seems to be just "Emirates" but because Dubai is part of the United Arab Emirates, which is sometimes referred to as "the Emirates," people and publications often refer to "Emirates" the airline company as Emirates Airline or Emirates Airlines. But not Emirates Airways.
• The Emirates website and other EK published material either has just "Emirates" or sometimes "Emirates Airline" rather than "Emirates Airlines" (mostly).

Emirates Airline check-in at Dubai Metro stations

• Several Dubai Metro stations allow EK passengers to check-in at the station before travelling to the airport - at least 2 hours prior to departure time.
• Stations include Mall of the Emirates, Burj Khalifa (The Dubai Mall), and Dubai Financial Centre (02 Aug 2010 press release).

Emirates Airline visas to UAE

• Emirates Airline can arrange online a 30 day Dubai tourist visa or a 96 hour Dubai transit visa for nationals of some countries if they are booked on an EK flight (press release 17 May 2010).
• List of countries which can obtain a UAE visa online with an Emirates booking includes (as of May 2010, check with EK if country not in list): Angola, Brazil, China, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Maldives, Mauritius, Morocco, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey.
• Nationalities of the countries which can obtain a Dubai visa on arrival do not need to pre-apply for a visa (although those countries are included in the EK list of online visa allowable countries).
• As of May 2010, a 96-hour visa will cost US$44 (AED 160), and a 30-day visa will cost US$57 (AED 210). Additional service charges and fees might apply.
• Passengers should apply online at the EK website (click "Manage a Booking"), and will receive visa via email, if approved, in about 4 working days.
• Visas are arranged in partnership with VFS Global which operate the Dubai Visa Processing Centres (DVPC) internationally.
• The DNRD in Dubai issues entry permits, not DVPC or Emirates, so having an EK booking does not guarantee a visa.

List of Emirates Airlines flights from Dubai International Airport DXB

See Emirates Airlines destination list. Includes information about

• Emirates A380 routes
• Emirates Airlines and FlyDubai connections
• Emirates Airlines new routes in 2010
• Emirates Airlines baggage handling
• Emirates Airlines Freighter routes (Emirates SkyCargo)
• Emirates Airline free bus service to Abu Dhabi and Al Ain for passengers booked on EK flights to and from Dubai.

Emirates Airline Lounges

Emirates Airline First Class Lounges

• Auckland International Airport
• Bangkok
• Beijing
• Birmingham
• Brisbane
• Delhi
• Dubai Airport Terminal 3 Concourse 1 - opening announced 03 August 2011. Area 1,058 sq meters. Facilities include reclining armchairs, large TVs, showers, business center, wireless LAN connection, smoking area, dining areas with the usual food and beverage offerings.
• Dubai Airport Concourse 2
• Dusseldorf
• Frankfurt
• Hamburg
• Hong Kong
• Johannesburg
• Kuala Lumpur
• London Gatwick
• London Heathrow
• Manchester
• Munich
• Melbourne
• Mumbai
• New York - JFK
• Paris - Charles de Gaulle
• Perth
• Singapore
• Shanghai
• Sydney
• Zurich

Emirates Airline Business Class Lounges

Emirates Airlines financial performance

Emirates Airline financial year runs from 01 April to 31 March.

• 2010 estimated profit more than AED 3.67 billion (US$1 billion+) according to The National 07 June 2010, based on comments from the President of Emirates, Tim Clark (referring back to 2009 profit): Profits "will be bigger than that this year", Mr Clark added, saying passenger and cargo demand remain strong. "We will exceed it. We are well ahead [of our forecasts] already."
• 2009 profit of AED 3.54 billion (US$964 million) according to 12 May 2010 statements, or AED 4.04 billion (US$1.1 billion) if DNATA Group profit included.
• 2009 estimated profit over AED 3.67 billion (US$1 billion) - Gulf News report 01 December 2009 with a comment from Emirates Group Vice-Chairman, Maurice Flanagan: "We just announced our first-half results, which are very good and our second-half results will even be better, and as our chairman said, our profits will cross $1 billion this year."

Emirates Airline Awards

• Airline of the Year award for 2011 from Air Transport World (ATW), received by Tim Clark, President of EK, on 08 February 2011 in Washington DC, USA.
• Center for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) Airline of the Year Award 2010 - announced October 2010.
• Skytrax World Airline Awards 2009 - Emirates Airlines was in 5th place in the Skytrax Airline of the Year 2009 awards (Cathay Pacific won the top gong, and Etihad was in 7th spot). Emirates also got the top spot for the Best Inflight Entertainment award.

Emirates Airline aircraft numbers and capacity

• Emirates Airline became the third largest airline in the world by capacity as of March 2011. First and second largest are Delta Airlines and American Airlines, and third largest was previously United Airlines. EK aircraft numbers reported were a total of 144 aircraft in the EK fleet including 15 Airbus A380 superjumbos (with 75 more on order), and 4 stretched Boeing 777-300ER planes (with another 49 on order). Capacity figures according to Innovata are: Delta Air Lines - 28.4 billion Available Seat Kilometers (ASK); American Airlines - 21.8 bn ASK; Emirates - 16.9 bn ASK (+9.9% from March 2010); United - 16 bn ASK (-0.6%) (03 March 2011 news reports).

1. Figures for EK financial year which runs from 01 April to 31 March, not 01 January to 31 December.
2. Aircraft numbers in brackets are on order books.

• Numbers in italics are estimates or forecasts.

Emirates Airlines sponsorship deals

• 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand - Emirates is a Worldwide Partner
• Arsenal (UK) - sponsorship deal worth AED 580 million (US$158m), expires in 2021, EK hopes to renew according to a report in The National on 12 August 2010.
• AC Milan football team (AFP report 10 February 2010) - size and length of sponsorship deal not announced.
• Emirates Team New Zealand - NZ sailing team.
• England Rugby League Team
• FIFA World Cup 2010 - Emirates is the Official Partner.
• Hamburg football club (Germany)
• International Rugby Board (IRB)
• Olympiakos (Greece)
• Paris Saint-Germain (France)
• Rugby World Cup Sevens
• Super League (UK?)
• UAE Rugby Association (UAERA) - sponsorship deal signed 30 March 2011. Duration 5 years with Emirates becoming the official airline for the UAERA, and players will wear shirts with the Emirates logo.
• UK Rugby Football League
• US Eagles and USA Rugby - sponsorship deal for both men's and women's teams announced 03 June 2010, valid for 6 years.
• US Rugby Sevens teams (both men and women) - from December 2009

Emirates Airline aircraft orders

• 14 November 2011 (news reports) - Emirates announced at the start of the Dubai Air Show an order for 50 Boeing 777-ER aircraft worth AED 66 billion ($18 billion), with options for another 20 planes worth $8 billion. Deliveries expected to start from 2015.
• 06 August 2010 - the significant orders by Emirates in June and July 2010 roughly coincided with the cancellation of orders for 50 Airbus and Boeing aircraft worth about AED 30 billion (US$8 bn) from Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) according to Airbus and Boeing order books on their websites. Apparently Mohammed Al Zarooni, the new DAE Chairman, told Reuters "I have no comment on that," (Reuters 06 August 2010).
• 19 July 2010 - Emirates and Boeing announced an order of 30 Boeing 777-300ERs (Extended Range) at the 2010 Farnborough International Airshow. Actual price to be paid by EK wasn't disclosed but the value of the planes is about $9 billion (AED 33 billion) for walk-in customers at the Boeing High Street Shop before discounts or summer sale prices. The press release said "Eighteen of these were previously attributed to an unidentified customer on Boeing's Orders and Deliveries website." Total 777s on order is now 46. Emirates already operates 86 777s making it the largest 777 operator in the world.
• 19 July 2010 - Emirates announced at the Farnorough Air Show an order of Engine Alliance (a joint venture between General Electric and Pratt & Whitney) GP7200 engines for its 32 Airbus A380 aircraft ordered in June 2010. The contract is worth about $4.8 billion (AED 17.6 billion) including spare engines, and a fleet management agreement for the maintenance, overhaul and repair of the engines.
• 01 July 2010 - DAE is renegotiating some previous orders for aircraft from Airbus and Boeing, according to a Reuters report. Adding fuel to the speculation that renegotiated or cancelled orders from DAE might show up as new orders by Emirates Airline.
• 28 June 2010 - a French newspaper, Les Echos, reported that Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) was renegotiating orders for 220 aircraft from Airbus and Boeing, and some of those orders might become Emirates Airline orders. A Reuters report quoted the newspaper as saying "It seems that the debt-laden emirate has chosen to turn part of its deliveries into new contracts for Emirates (airlines)," referring to the emirate of Dubai but without giving a source. DAE is a Dubai Government owned company that was planning to lease aircraft, but isn't now. Both EK and DAE are owned by the Dubai Government, and Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum is Chairman of both DAE and EK Group.
• 18 June 2010 - France reportedly rejects a request from Emirates (and Etihad, and Air Arabia) for more landing slots. Seven were asked for, one for Lyon was granted. Perhaps the French airport landing slot authorities don't know that Airbus planes are made in France (partly), nor that the three UAE airline operators, especially EK, are placing big orders with Airbus, resulting in more jobs for the French.
• 09 June 2010 - Emirates announced at the ILA 2010 Berlin Air Show an order of 32 Airbus A380 planes at a list price of US$11.5 billion / AED 42 billion (about US$360m or AED 1.3 bn per plane) but how much discount Emirates received was not disclosed.
  • The June 2010 news brought the total number of A380s on the EK order book to 90 (including 9 already delivered, and one on the way at the time of the new order), out of a total of 234 bought by airlines around the world, and making Emirates the largest A380 customer. In second place is Qantas with 20 planes.
  • Emirates plans to have all 90 A380s in service by 2017. But the best laid plans ...
  • As of 09 June 2010, the EK order book (planes not yet delivered) had 80 Airbus A380s, 70 Airbus A350s, 18 Boeing 777-300s, and 7 Boeing Air Freighters. Total of 143 aircraft worth about $48 billion at list prices.
• 11 November 2007 - Emirates announced at the 2007 Dubai Airshow orders and options worth about US$35 billion for 11 Airbus A380s, 120 Airbus A350s, and 12 Boeing 777-300ERs (press release 11 November 2007). Other sources said the order was for 11 Airbus A380s, and 70 A350s, worth $20 billion / AED 74 billion at list prices, the biggest order by value ever placed for Airbus.
• November 2005 Dubai Airshow - Emirates Airlines announces an order of 42 Boeing 777s worth US$9.7 billion at list prices, consisting of 24 Boeing 777-300ERs, 10 777-200LR Worldliners, and 8 777 Freighters. EK order book prior to new order was 23 777-300ERs, 45 A380s, 20 A340-600s, and 2 Airbus A310Fs worth a total of US$37.4 billion for the 132 aircraft (now up to 174 aircraft worth US$47.1 billion).
• June 2003 - at the Paris Air Show, Emirates ordered 23 more A380s, and some other planes in an order worth US$19 billion - the largest single aircraft order ever. Total number of EK A380 planes on order is up to 45.
• December 2001 - at the Dubai Airshow, Emirates ordered 15 A380s and some other planes in a deal worth US$15 billion.
• July 2000 - Emirates signed up for 5 passenger A3XXs and 3 cargo A3XXs at the Farnborough Air Show. This was later modified to (or increased by?) 5 passenger and 2 cargo A3XX planes in a deal worth US$1.5 billion.
• April 2000 - Emirates said they were interested in buying the A380 (A3XX at the time).
• 09 June 2010 - An A380-900 stretch version of the plane is under consideration with Emirates expressing interest in buying some. Unknown if they will be painted black and have tinted windows.

Emirates Airline growth

• The Vice-Chairman, Sir Maurice Flanagan, said in comments published in the Gulf News 25 August 2010, that Emirates Airline was expected to continue to grow significantly, with double-digit growth rates annually.
• He said "We'll grow substantially over the years ahead. On average … we'll be taking [delivery of] an Airbus A380 and a Boeing 777 every month for the next 12 years"
• Emirates Airline will need over AED 100 billion (US$28 bn) worth of funding for its new planes from 2010-2017 according to a Bloomberg report 01 September 2010 of comments by Gary Chapman, President of Emirates Group Finance Services.
• Fleet size is 150 planes as of September 2010 with orders for another 203 aircraft through to 2017.

Emirates Airline IPO

Emirates Airline is owned by the Dubai Government, however, there is occasional talk of selling a stake to the public in an Initial Public Offering (IPO) with shares possibly listed on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) or Nasdaq Dubai (previously the Dubai International Financial Exchange - DIFX).

• In 2009-2010 when Dubai debt became a significant concern, there were more rumours of an Emirates Airline IPO as part of a sort of expected, or hoped for, garage sale of Dubai Government assets. Needless to say, just as with any garage sale, people don't sell their prized possessions, or only sell them very reluctantly. And Emirates Airline is one of the Dubai Government's prized assets.
• On 28-29 November 2010, many news reports picked up on comments by the Director General of the Dubai Ruler’s Court, Mohammed Ibrahim Al Shaibani, who said "The possibility of offering a stake in Emirates Airlines to the public is always there and is being studied and considered." Not so many sources reported his follow up comment which was "But it is well known that offering stakes to the public in solid commercial companies like Emirates is not always useful." Quite.
• An Emirates Airline IPO was being reported back in 2007 shortly after they announced a large aircraft order. Reuters reported on 13 November 2007 comments from the EK Chairman, Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, who said "We have not begun any steps so far, but the intention is there," when he was asked about plans for an IPO.

Emirates Airlines history and timeline

• 01 December 2008 - first Emirates A380 flight, to London Heathrow (which wasn't the first A380 flight - Singapore Airlines had that honor on 25 October 2007 from Singapore to Sydney).
• 14 October 2008 - Emirates starts transferring arrivals and departures to the new Terminal 3 at Dubai Airport.
• 23 October 1985 - Emirates Airline officially launched by Shaikh Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, and Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE.

Emirates Airline incidents

Emirates Airline no parcel bomb

• Emirates Flight EK201 from Dubai to New York on Friday 29 October 2010 was escorted to JFK airport by US fighter jets according to a Reuters report. The flight contained a package originating in Yemen which was to be investigated.
• Two other packages that came out of Yemen on other cargo flights (not EK planes) on the same day were discovered in Dubai (a FedEx aircraft) and East Midlands, UK (a UPS aircraft) to contain explosive material. AFP reported on 30 October 2010 that the Chief of Dubai Police, General Dahi Khalfan, said "this was a parcel bomb and a terrorist act could have occurred"

Emirates Airline and Sri Lankan Airlines partnership

• Emirates Airlines bought a 43.6% stake in Sri Lankan Airlines in 1998 for about $70 million (reportedly, not confirmed).
• Emirates then signed a 10 year agreement to take over management of Sri Lankan Airlines.
• In December 2007, Peter Hill, the Emirates appointed Chief Executive Officer for Sri Lankan Airlines had has SL work permit cancelled after he refused to offload passengers to make room for the Sri Lankan President and a group travelling with him from the UK to Sri Lanka.
• Emirates Airlines then announced they would not be interested in renewing the management contract, and subsequently started to try and find someone to buy their SL Airlines investment.
• Reports in early June 2010 indicated that Emirates might be close to a deal to sell its SL Airline stake for about $55 million.
• On 07 June 2010, a report from the Press Trust of India (PTI) said the entire stake had been sold back to the Sri Lankan Government. The Chairman of Sri Lankan Airlines, Nishantha Wickramasinghe, was quoted as saying "All shares of the Sri Lankan Airlines sold to the Emirates have been acquired,"

Last update Tuesday 06-Dec-2011

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