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Emirates
Airlines (shortened form: Emirates) ( is an airline
based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates owned by The
Emirates Group. It operates services to the Middle
East, Far East, Europe, Africa, Indian subcontinent,
Asia-Pacific and North America. Its main base is Dubai
International Airport.
History
General
The airline was established in May 1985 by the Dubai
government. It started operations with flights to
Mumbai (Bombay) and Delhi followed by Karachi in September.
A single Airbus A300 and a Boeing 737-300 were leased
from Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). Subsequently
two Boeing 727-200 Advanced were acquired from the
UAE's Royal Flight. These aircraft were used until
Emirates began taking delivery of a fleet of newly
built Airbus A300-600R and A310-300 widebodied aircraft.
It has been awarded a four star ranking from Skytrax.
The
first European destination to be added in July 1987
was London-Gatwick. Far Eastern operations commenced
to Singapore in June 1990. Emirates acquired a financial
stake of 40% and a management contract for Air Lanka
on 1 April 1998, which subsequently changed its name
to Sri Lankan Airlines. Emirates SkyCargo is the cargo
subsidiary of Emirates.
Emirates
received the prestigious airline of the year award
for the first time in 2001 and repeated the feat on
2002 to become a two time award winner of the airline
of the year.
For
200405, Emirates paid an increased dividend
of Dh368 million to the Government of Dubai, compared
to Dh329 million the year before. In total, the ownership
received Dh1.1 billion from Emirates since dividends
started being paid in 1999. Having provided an initial
start-up capital of US$10m plus and an additional
investment of circa US$80m at the time of the airline's
inception,[1] the Dubai government is the sole owner
of the company. However, it does not put any new money
into it, nor does it interfere with running the airline.
In
November 2006 it was announced that Emirates had
signed a deal with mobile communications form
AeroMobile. This will allow passengers on board
Emirates flights to use their mobile phones to
call or text people on the ground. This is the
first airline in aviation history to confirm a
deal which will allow passengers to use their
personal mobile phone in early January 2007 on
selected Boeing 777.
Emirates
won the award for best inflight entertainment
2006 from Skytrax, because of their ICE (information
communication entertainment) system, with the
biggest selling point being over 500 channels
of Movies, Television and music.
Emirates
has begun construction on its own luxury five star
hotel and towers. It is located next to Dnata headquarters
on the Sheikh Zayed highway.
In
mid-2007, Emirates will feature docking capability
for Apple Computer's iPod portable music and video
player. This will allow the device's battery to
be charged, but will also allow integration with
Emirates' In-flight Entertainment (IFE) system.
This will also enable the IFE system to play music,
television shows, or movies stored on the iPod,
as well as function as a control system.
On
the 20th of February 2007, Emirates was named the
UAE's top brand among 25 other local firms. It has
a base value of US$ 6.3 billion.
Business model
Emirates Airline's commercial success is based
on the following principles:
An Airbus A380 seen painted in the Emirates Airlines
colors at the 2005 Dubai Airshow.It has a very
lean workforce, comparable to the leading low-cost
"no frills" airlines rather than other
traditional "flag carriers". This, along
with a simpler organisational structure, allows
the airline to maintain low overhead costs. Its
low cost base, which some industry analysts believe
is second only to Ryanair on a cash cost per seat
basis, allows it to profitably serve secondary
destinations as well as connect such places via
its global Dubai hub.
Emirates has so far refused to join any of the
major global airline alliances and questions the
advantages such alliances bring for the airlines
as well as their customers, especially after taking
into consideration the high costs of compliance
of alliance membership.
It operates an all-widebody fleet resulting in
lower unit costs compared with airlines operating
mixed narrow/wide-body fleets. This enables Emirates
to use these aircraft's cargo capacity to boost
its overall revenues and total profits, especially
at times when the passenger business passes through
a seasonal trough or when an economic downturn
adversely impacts the passenger numbers. Its Dubai
hub also allows it to take advantage of increasing
cargo business between China/India and West Africa.
It operates a young, fuel-efficient fleet.
As a "youthful" company Emirates has
virtually no legacy costs compared with its older,
established peers. (It also helps that all forms
of strikes are banned in the UAE.)
Place in airline industry
Large discounts offered by Airbus and Boeing to
any airline willing to order new aircraft from
either manufacturer during the economic downturn
caused by the 9/11 attacks as well as Emirates'
strong financial position compared with most of
its competitors at the time, enabled the airline
to take advantage of this situation by placing
huge orders for up to 150 long-haul widebodied
jets. These orders included both an order for
45 Airbus A380 "super jumbos" as well
as a major order for Boeing's increasingly popular
777-300ER that will make Emirates the world's
largest 777 operator. Emirates also managed to
transform itself from a small- to medium-sized
regional airline into a global carrier as a result
of placing these orders.
Controversy
The established network carriers in Europe and
Australia, i.e. Air France-KLM, British Airways,
Lufthansa, and Qantas, perceive Emirates' strategic
decision to reposition itself as a global carrier
as a major threat because it increasingly enables
an ever-growing number of air travellers to by-pass
traditional airline hubs such as London Heathrow,
Paris Charles de Gaulle, and Frankfurt on their
way between Europe/North America and Asia/Australia
by changing flights in Dubai instead. These carriers
also find it difficult to deal with the growing
competitive threat Emirates poses to their business
because of their much higher cost base. Some of
these carriersnotably Air France and Qantasare
so concerned about the detrimental effects of
Emirates' growth on their future ability to compete
with it on a level playing field that they have
resorted to openly accusing their Dubai-based
rival of receiving hidden state subsidies and
of maintaining too cosy a relationship with Dubai's
airport authority as well as its aviation authority,
both of which are also wholly state-owned entities
that share the same government owner with the
airline. In addition, they have also accused Emirates
of taking unfair advantage of its government shareholder's
sovereign borrower status. They claim that this
masks its true financial performance and reduces
its borrowing costs below market rates.
Destinations
The
average age of the Emirates fleet is 5.4 years as
of February 2007.
Emirates
has ordered 45 airbus A380 aircraft. It will be
the third airline to receive the aircraft, after
launch airline Singapore Airlines and Qantas.
Forty-one passenger A380-800s are to be purchased
and two are to be leased from International Lease
Finance Corporation (ILFC). Two freighter A380-800Fs
were ordered for Emirates SkyCargo. However, this
was changed to the passenger model in May 2006.
Their first A380 was to enter service in October
2006[6] but will now not be delivered until early
2008.
As of November 20, 2005, Emirates had an orderbook
of Dh990 billion, comprising 105 firm orders,
including 45 Airbus A380s (by far the largest
of any carrier),
Emirates is still evaluating both Boeing's 787
and Airbus's A350. Boeing is now planning to create
a larger 787 called the 787-10 in response to
Emirates' and other airlines requirement for a
larger aircraft than the already launched Boeing
787-8 and Boeing 787-9.
On October 27, 2006, Emirates announced that it
cancelled its order for 20 Airbus A340-600 aircraft,
citing that they believed the A340 lacked the
technology offered by more up-to-date planes.
They also cancelled the A380 Airbus A380Fs which
were due for delivery in 2009. Instead the airline
has opted to order ten of the recently launched
747-8 freighters for its SkyCargo subsidiary at
the 2006 Farnborough Air Show, much to the annoyance
of Airbus which has accused Boeing of intentionally
misleading airlines about the capabilities of
its new Airbus A380-800F freighter. [citation
needed] The reason Emirates has chosen the Boeing
747-8 "derivative" freighter over the
all-new Airbus A380F is the Boeing aircraft's
nose-loading capability, something the rival Airbus
freighter is lacking. In addition, Emirates also
said that it was evaluating the 747-8I, the yet
to be launched passenger version of the Boeing
747-8, especially the "stretched" version
now studied by Boeing which would incorporate
the same 5.6m stretch as the freight variant instead
of the mere 3.6m stretch currently envisaged for
the passenger model. This would bring the -8I's
capacity closer to the A380-800's typical three-class
555-seat capacity (470 seats in a three-class-configuration
instead of 450).
Skywards
Skywards
Skywards is frequent flyer program of Emirates,
SriLankan Airlines and other Emirates travel partners.
Miles are earned through flights with Emirates
and SriLankan, or with cooperating airlines such
as include Continental Airlines, Japan Airlines,
Korean Air, South African Airways, and United
Airlines. Like many frequent flyer programs, Skywards
offers a tier model of Silver and Gold, which
gives additional benefits based upon miles flown
in a year.
Marketing
Emirates is a big global sponsor of sports clubs
and events, both at its home base and in the main
overseas markets it serves. It also sponsors the
annual "Dubai Shopping Festival". As
the airline lacks a "ready-made" clientele
in its almost non-existent home market, this type
of corporate sponsorship is its most effective
marketing tool. Perhaps unsurprisingly, for Emirates
marketing expenses account for a far greater share
of its total costs than for most of its competitors.[3]In
the English speaking world the sponsership always
carries the words "Fly Emirates".
At
present the company provides the following sponsorships:
Emirates
has sponsored the Austrialian cricket team (defending
champions) and hosts West Indies for the Cricket World
Cup 2007.
Emirates has sponsored the Rugby World Cup 2007. This
is the second rugby related sponsorship after the
Dubai Rugby 7s.
Emirates is the title sponsor of the Dubai World Cup
thoroughbred horse race and was a major sponsor of
the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup.
Emirates is also the title and main sponsor of the
Melbourne Cup (Australia's richest horse race)
Emirates was the Official Airline of the 2006 FIFA
World Cup.
Emirates is the main sponsor behind the America's
Cup challenge team Emirates Team New Zealand, made
from the remnants of Team New Zealand who won the
cup in 1996, and defended in 2000 before losing it
in 2003.
Emirates is sponsor of Collingwood Football Club
Emirates is the main sponsor of Arsenal F.C. of the
English Premier League, and has its name on Arsenal's
new stadium, Emirates Stadium, until June 2020, and
is the shirt sponsor until 2014.
Emirates also holds the sponsorship rights for cricket
umpires and association football referees.
Emirates is now the major sponsor of new Super 14's
the Emirates Western Force
Emirates is also involved in the IRB Sevens World
Series
Emirates was the sponsor of Chelsea F.C.
Emirates is the sponsor of the football club Hamburger
SV in the Bundesliga
Emirates announced before the start of the 2006 Formula
1 Championship that they had signed a sponsorship
deal with Team McLaren Mercedes.
Emirates is a sponsor for the Breeders' Cup Filly
& Mare Turf division.
Emirates is the sponsor of Paris Saint-Germain football
club
Emirates became the first company to sponsor two teams
in one UEFA Champions League match in 2006, with Hamburger
SV facing Arsenal F.C.. Under UEFA regulations, one
sponsor cannot appear on both teams' shirts, so for
both games, the away side had "Dubai" on
their shirts, with the home team wearing Emirates
shirts.
Emirates sponsors the Dubai Desert Classic golf tournament.
Emirates is the main sponsor of the Dubai Rugby 7s
tournament.
Incidents and accidents
An Airbus A340-313X of Emirates ran off the runway
when taking off from Johannesburg International
Airport on April 9, 2004. At the call to rotate,
the pilot flying pulled back on the stick. However,
according to a report, the nose was then de-rotated
and the aircraft did not become airborne. The
crew felt a rumbling, selected full power, and
about two seconds later the aircraft lifted off
the ground[1]. The airport says 25 runway threshold
and approach lights, and part of the runway surface,
were damaged as the aircraft went over the end
of 21R.
An Airbus A330-243 en route Dubai-Vienna (Flight
EK127) declared an emergency shortly after taking
off on May 28, 2006. The aircraft returned for
an emergency landing at the Dubai International
Airport.
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