Did ever PIA asset EMIRATES?: HISTORY OF EMIRATES

 Emirates:

Emirates was founded as an airline in 1985. It now flies to 157 destinations in 83 countries across six continents, providing air services that enable trade and traval to it's home base in Dubai and beyond. Emirates today was not the same just 37 years ago. 

Emirates: Crew + A380

PIA's Role:

One of the modern and largest airlines in the region was Pakistan International Airlines and the region was familiar with PIA and Pakistan so the royal family turned to Karachi for help in establishing an airline. PIA not only provided technical and administrative support to the new airline. This help was important in turning the concept of Emirates into reality within one year. PIA also leased two of its aircraft, including crew, to launch the flights. PIA provided its Airbus A300 aircraft, which was only six years old, and it was delivered to Emirates on October 21, 1985. The aircraft remained with the Emirates for the next three years. At the same time, PIA provided it’s brand new Boeing 737-300 that it acquired just a few months ago directly from Boeing to Emirates for two years. According to Emirates they leased two aircraft from PIA and made a profit in three or four years, putting themselfs in a position to buy their own aircraft. Thus PIA had a great role in the success of Emirates.

PIA: A320

Flight EK600:

On October 25, 1985, the day came when members of the Dubai royal family, journalists, and passengers arrived at the Dubai airport to board the first Emirates flight to Karachi. On the runway of Dubai Airport, all four Emirates planes were standing with its now-iconic red, green, white, and black tail. One of them was the Airbus A300, registered in Pakistan that was used for the inaugural flight. To prepare for the flight, Emirates cabin crew were trained at the PIA training center in Karachi. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Maurice Flanagan, and a few other Gulf dignitaries boarded the plane to take this historic flight to Karachi. Pakistani food, prepared with the help of PIA was served to the passengers on the flight. The flight landed at Karachi’s old international airport, that is still intact. There were PIA management and staff on the tarmac to welcome the guests with flowers and garlands.

Emirates: First EK600 Flight

Karachi’s International Airport was the main gateway to Pakistan in those days. The majority of international flights from Pakistan went from Karachi where the government of Pakistan had adopted an open sky policy. Emirates took full advantage of that and there was a time when Emirates operated only seven daily flights using its Boeing 777 to Karachi along with 2 to 4 flights by Emirates Group’s airline FlyDubai. After that on July 14, 1998, Emirates started flights to Peshawar and the following year to Islamabad and Lahore. Then Emirates started flights to Sialkot in 2013 and to Multan in 2015, but flights to Multan were discontinued by the end of 2018. These days, Emirates operates 53 weekly flights to Pakistan, connecting five cities in the country to Dubai and other parts of the world. And along with Emirates, its company FlyDubai and UAE’s other Airlines like Etihad and Air Arabia also operate flights to Pakistan.

Early Success: 

Emirates: A380 in ISLAMABAD

The A300 remained in Emirates fleet until November 1988, while the Boeing 737 was returned one year earlier. It was to be the only B737 operated by Emirates thus far. The initial fleet also consisted of two Boeing 727 trijets supplied by the royal family. During its first year, Emirates carried 260,000 passengers. It caused the leading regional airline, Gulf Air, to take a 56% hit to its profits. Two years later, Emirates took delivery of its first owned aircraft - an A310-300 directly from Airbus in Toulouse. By 1990, the airline had grown its network to 14 destinations throughout the Middle East, Asia, and Europe.

Emirates Today:

Emirates today is the worlds leading airline connecting the world, flying to a multiple destinations around the world. In the year 2018, Emirates operated the first-ever A380 flight to Pakistan, only this time to Islamabad. At the reception following the flight, the airline took the opportunity to honor its first-ever pilots - Captian Mian and Captain Ejaz Ul Haq.

When was your first flight with Emirates? Where did you go, and on what aircraft? Leave a comment below and share your story.

Author:

Safwan Waqas

16 years old

O'Levels

Karachi, Pakistan

Journalist-Aviation Enthusiast-Student having a deep background in publishing & reporting aviation, I like to combine my love for aviation as I am a keen observer of ever changing aviation trends around the world and particularly in Asia and Europe.