Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism Management

Foundation Programme

FHH1293 INTRODUCTION TO HOSPITALITY AND

TOURISM INDUSTRY

Emirates Airlines

Submitted By:

Lim Zhi Yee 1002162573

Submitted To:

Assistant Professor Dr. Hanafi Hamzah

(Course Lecturer)

Date of Submission:

21/7/2022
Lim Zhi Yee 1002162573 Emirates Airlines

Contents

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………... 3

History of Emirates Airlines…………………………………………………………….. 4

Background………………………………………………………………………………... 5

Organization Chart……………………………………………………………………….. 7

Achievements……………………………………………………………………………. 10

Services Provided by Emirates……………………………………………………….. 12

Competitors………………………………………………………………………………. 15

Advantage of Emirates Airlines Compared to its Competitors…………………. 18

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….. 21

References……………………………………………………………………………….. 23

Figures

Figure 1: Emirates Airlines’ Organization Chart…………………………………….. 7

Figure 2: Emirates Aircraft – Seat Configuration………………………………….. 13

Figure 3: Scheduled passenger-kilometres flown in 2018, 2019 & 2020 in

millions……………………………………………………………………………………. 16

Figure 4: Top 10 Airlines by Seats in Middle East………………………………… 18

Figure 5: Top 6 airlines based on number of countries served in 2019……….. 19

2
Lim Zhi Yee 1002162573 Emirates Airlines

Emirates Airlines

Introduction

Aviation plays an important role in the hospitality and tourism industry. In fact,
international tourism would not even exist if airplanes did not exist, as it would be
extremely difficult for tourists to travel. Airlines provide quick, safe, and standardized
mass transport between long distances. Because travelling between countries or even
continents have become so efficient, over 1.4 billion tourists travel internationally each
year before the 2020 pandemic. Similarly, because so many tourists travel each year,
more and more airlines started to grow and develop. Therefore, the aviation and
tourism industries are directly interrelated with each other and they both depend
heavily on each other. However, travel restrictions arose during the pandemic, sending
the tourism industry along with the aviation industry into a steep decline. In 2020, the
number of airplane passengers globally dropped to 1.8 billion compared to the 4.5
billion in 2019, which was a 60% decrease. This resulted in a net loss of $118.5 billion
from airlines worldwide. Although this number is starting to rise again, many, including
the United Nations World Tourism Organization, predict that it would be another two to
three years before the statistic stabilizes to the pre-pandemic levels again. Hence,
industries dependant on tourism, like aviation and lodging services, would still be
struggling for a few more years, even though the condition today may not be as bad
as 2020.

Most countries have their own airlines, like Malaysia Airlines or American Airlines.
Likewise, the United Arab Emirates also have their own, called Emirates Airlines. The
airline is one of the largest and most successful airlines in the world, with a net worth
of over $51 billion dollars. Emirates Airlines is owned by the government of Dubai, and
the company is a subsidiary of The Emirates Group. With over 500 flights each day to
80 different countries all over the world, the airline is undoubtedly the colossal of
airlines in the middle east. In addition to passenger flights, they also provide transport
for cargo and shipments, which is mainly operated by Emirates SkyCargo. As of 2022,
Emirates Airlines’ fleet consists of 118 Airbus A380 aircrafts and 134 Boeing 777
aircrafts, with 115 Boeing 777 still pending delivery. The headquarters of Emirates
Airlines reside in the heart of Dubai, and all the flight planning and organizing takes
place over there. The airline currently has 45,000 employees, including 4,000 pilots

3
Lim Zhi Yee 1002162573 Emirates Airlines

from a hundred different countries. Emirates Airlines has maintained their target for
over 35 years without fail, which is to provide luxury flying for everyone, not excluding
the passengers in economy classes. This ambitious motive is what makes Emirates
Airlines stand out amongst its competitors, and is also one of the main attractions for
the passengers of the airline.

History of Emirates Airlines

Emirates Airlines was launched in 1985 by Dubai’s authorities as a result of the

diminishing oil supply in Dubai. The UAE Minister of Defence back in 1984, Sheikh
Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, was looking into starting an airline for
replacement source of income, as well as a form of transportation because the flag
carrier of Bahrain, known as Gulf Air, was reducing its number of flights to Dubai. The
Minister of Defence then tasked the managing director of Dubai National Air Travel
Agency, Sir Maurice Flanagan, with planning and launching the airline that we know
today as Emirates Airlines.

A Boeing 737 that flew from Dubai to Karachi on October 25th 1985 marked Emirates
Airlines’ first flight. The Boeing 737 was leased from Pakistan International Airlines
along with an Airbus A300B4, and together they were two of four total aircrafts in
Emirates’ fleet. The other two were Boeing 727s provided by the Dubai Royal Air Wing.
After two years of major success, Emirates Airlines finally received their first own
aircraft on July 3rd 1987 when the Airbus A310 was delivered from France to Dubai.
Within five years, the airline had expanded its destinations to 14 different countries,
including Germany, Turkey, India, Egypt, The Maldives, etc.

In 1990, the Gulf War caused many airlines to halt their services in the Persian Gulf.
This, however, did not faze Emirates Airlines as they continued flights in the area,
resulting in a surge of business. In 1992, Emirates Airlines became the first airline to
install video entertainment systems in all its seats, from economy to first class, which
made them even more renowned as a luxury airline. During the same year, Emirates
Airlines moved into the newly refurbished Dubai International airport, which costed
around 2 million dollars in expansion. A larger terminal calls for more airplanes – which
is why Emirates bought another eight Airbus A310s along with six Airbus A300s in
1995, and expanded their destinations to 30 countries. The following year, the airline

4
Lim Zhi Yee 1002162573 Emirates Airlines

received its first of seven Boeing 777s ordered in 1992, and the airline extended its
flights all the way to Australia as a resultant of the Boeing 777’s long range. Emirates
Sky Cargo was introduced in 1998, which was a branch of service dedicated to freight
transport. The aircrafts would have their own crew and maintenance unique to that of
a normal passenger flight. By 1999, the airline had grown its network to 50 different
cities all over the world, including Paris in 1992, Kuala Lumpur in 1996, and Munich in
1999. By this time, Dubai International Airport had become a well-known hub for
passengers all over the world, hitting 11 million arrivals in a year.

Emirates became the first customer of the Airbus A380 in 2000, which would later
become their flagship aircraft. The airline also signed a £100 million sponsorship
contract with Arsenal Football Club in 2004 which allowed the airline to rename
Arsenal’s home stadium to Emirates Stadium. The sponsorship was renewed in 2012
and again in 2018, making it one of the longest partnerships in sports history. In 2005,
Emirates expanded its fleet further by making the largest Boeing 777 order in the world,
consisting of 42 aircrafts worth $9.7 billion. In the span of 10 years, from 2000-2009,
Emirates Airlines had added 46 new destinations including Italy, Japan, China, United
States, South Africa, and many others, with a total of 96 cities.

In 2017, Emirates launched the world’s first fully enclosed First-Class private suite,
which brought luxury in aviation to a whole new level. During the Dubai Airshow in
2019, Emirates Airlines placed yet another order for $8.8 billion worth of Boeing 787
aircrafts, with an addition of $16 billion worth of Airbus A350s. By 2019, Emirates had
expanded its destinations to a total of 150, with 54 new routes added during 2010-
2019 (Emirates, 2022).

Background

Dubai International Airport is home to Emirates Airlines’ main hub, and the airport has
one of the highest international traffic in the world. This is mainly due to the huge
number of transit passengers passing through Dubai via multi-city flights. Because
UAE is located right in the middle of the globe, Emirates has the potential to carry out
operations to almost every single country in the world in a relatively short time, which
is something most airlines are not capable of. Hence, these airlines will tend to connect

5
Lim Zhi Yee 1002162573 Emirates Airlines

its passengers to their desired destination through transit flights, which benefits
Emirates as the airline is located in one of the highest demand transit hubs worldwide.

Emirates Airlines and Dubai have a special connection with each other, and they are
both linked to the government’s goal of transforming Dubai into what it had been
seeking for decades – a link between the East and West. With tens of millions of
arrivals in the Dubai International Airport every year, the government aims to transform
Dubai into a place where transit passengers can relax comfortably while advertising
their city’s tourism industry. Emirates relies heavily on Dubai’s tourism sector, and
Dubai’s tourism sector relies heavily on Emirates. Heavy investments into monuments
like the Burj Khalifa and the Palm Jumeirah attracted new tourists to Dubai, which
boosted the sales of Emirates Airlines. This led to the increase in popularity of the
airline, making Emirates even more well-known. In turn, Emirates helped promote
Dubai as a tourist attraction to these new customers, which boosted the tourism sector
in Dubai. The government has done a good job of making sure that as long as Dubai
remains around, Emirates will not fail, and as long as Emirates continue to operate,
Dubai’s tourism industry will continue its services as well (Al Saed et al., 2020).

In addition to being a world-renowned transit airline, Emirates has also built its brand
image on the luxury services it provides. The high-end services the airline provides
include its unique in-flight entertainment services, the complementary ride to and from
the airport, friendly and well-trained employees, the various cuisines served, unique
facilities like on-board spa and shower, private suites, and so many other luxurious
services. Emirates makes sure that all the services they provide will not only meet, but
also exceed the expectations and satisfaction of its passengers, and this has
distinguished them from other airlines. Back in 1985 when the airline was created,
founding CEO Maurice Flanagan was instructed to make the airline “look good, be
good”, showing that Emirates was always meant to be a high-end luxury airline, even
before it was fully created.

In its three decades of operation, Emirates Airlines has managed to retain its safety
record of zero passenger deaths, which makes the airline one of the safest in the world.
As of 2022, the airline has suffered a total of one hull loss, which occurred back in
2016 when a Boeing 777 crashed at Dubai International Airport while landing. The
plane started to burn and the aircraft was destroyed due to the fire. During the rescue

6
Lim Zhi Yee 1002162573 Emirates Airlines

operation, an airport firefighter died, leaving seven others injured. However, no crew
members or passengers had any fatal casualties. This was the first and only hull loss
of Emirates Airlines in its entire history.

Organization Chart

An organization chart separates an organization into their respective roles and

structures within a graphical image. The chart can include the relationships between
each role and the overall ranks of each individual role or job. An organization chart
may also be used to view the various departments in an organization, which allows for
the analysis of the company to determine whether all necessary departments have
been implemented correctly.

Fig.1 shows the organization chart of Emirates Airlines

Emirates Airlines has five major departments: Administration, Finance, Services,

Commerce, and Operations. The administration department oversees the
performance of everything and everyone in the company, including all the equipment,
legal affairs, security, aircrafts, etc. It links all the other departments together and
maintains overall performance in the office. Next is the finance department, who

7
Lim Zhi Yee 1002162573 Emirates Airlines

manages all the funds in the company and controls all financial decisions within the
company to ensure the business operates with maximum profitability. The job of the
services department is to keep customers happy by providing clean facilities, helpful
customer service, high-quality food & beverages, and other services. The services an
airline provides can be its tipping point between success and failure, which is why
Emirates invests so heavily into maintaining its high-end services. Moving on to the
commerce department, this is where all the planning and marketing of the airline
occurs. The main purpose of the commerce department is to attract customers and
promote the services of the airline through marketing. In addition, the commerce
department also handles all the order processing, e-commerce, invoicing, and many
other tasks. Finally, we have the operations department, who helps maintain the
efficiency of the company and makes sure that all operations within the airline runs
smoothly from the beginning to the end. These include maintenance, safety
management, recruit training, and many other jobs. Emirates is a large company with
many branches and sub-branches of departments. Hence, the following paragraphs
will go over the major positions and officers in the organization.

Starting with the current Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, His Highness Sheikh
Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum. The royal member of Dubai’s Al Maktoum family has
greatly impacted Dubai’s economy and business by creating new strategies and
policies, as well as his dedication to the aviation industry. Under his leadership,
Emirates Airlines has seen increasing profits for over 30 years since its formation up
until the recent pandemic in 2020, which is something most airlines do not achieve.

Next in the hierarchy is the President of Emirates Airlines, Sir. Tim Clark. He is one of
the earliest members of the company, joining as Head of Airline Planning back in 1985.
Sir. Tim has contributed massively to transforming Emirates into a world-renowned
airline through his expert network planning and establishment. He is highly respected
for his works in the aviation industry as well as his services to British prosperity, and
was knighted in 2014.

Mr. Adel Ahmad Al Redha, Chief Operating Officer of Emirates Airlines since 2013,
joined the company in 1988, and he has helped the airline advance in the engineering
and maintenance department by introducing the Emirates Flight Training Academy
and also a state-of-the-art engine maintenance shop. He has also assisted in the

8
Lim Zhi Yee 1002162573 Emirates Airlines

logistics department, and various other aspects of the operations department like
delivery services, airport services, etc. In addition to that, Mr. Al Redha is in charge of
scouting new aircrafts for Emirates, including the aircraft specifications, interiors,
inflight entertainment, etc.

The Chief Commercial Officer of Emirates Airlines, Mr. Adnan Kazim, plays a huge role
in the marketing, planning, and commerce of Emirates Airlines. He is in charge of all
commercial operations in over 86 countries, as well as the strategic planning, market
expansion, e-commerce, revenue optimisation, loyalty programmes, and many other
sub-departments in the company. Mr. Adnan Kazim joined Emirates in 1992, and
quickly moved up positions to become part of the senior management team, and then
one of the senior vice presidents, which led to the Chief Commercial Officer. He has
helped expanded the market of Emirates Airlines and its fleet with his vast experience
of strategic planning.

Mr. Michael Doersam is one of the latest appointed Chief Officers in Emirates. Joining
the company in 2006, he was promoted only two years after to Senior Vice President
Group Finance, and then appointed Chief Financial Officer in 2021. Mr. Michael
Doersam heads the Finance Strategy team, as well as Financial Reporting, Treasury,
Management Accounting, Global Financial Services, and Insurance of the company.
He is in charge of the financial activities of the airline all over the world, including the
company’s credit risk management.

For such a large company, there will be a large number of employees. Hence,
someone will need to manage and oversee all the employees in the organization. Mr.
Abdulaziz Al Ali, Executive Vice President Human Resources of Emirates Airlines &
Group, is responsible for managing the human resources in both Emirates Airlines and
Emirates Group. Along with that, he also controls the training and development,
creating policies, hiring, retention, and also the medical services department (Emirates,
2022).

These are only a few of the major positions in the company. Under the leadership of
these people, Emirates has seen outstanding success over the years, and the airline
will continue to grow and develop even further in the aviation industry with this
innovative team of individuals.

9
Lim Zhi Yee 1002162573 Emirates Airlines

Achievements

Emirates has always been well-known for its brand experience, and the airline has
always been keen to take bold, new initiatives that offer new experiences to its
customers. This has proven to be a successful strategy for the company, with Emirates
winning multiple awards every year for the Best Airline Worldwide, World’s Leading
Airline First Class, World’s Leading Airline Lounge, and tons of other awards.

Emirates Airlines has won hundreds of awards, not mentioning the thousands of
nominations, throughout its journey as an established airline, and the complete list
would be far too long to include in this paper. Hence, below is a shortened list of the
most notable achievements earned by Emirates Airlines:

Air Transport Awards (Air Transport Awards, 2022)

- Airline of the Year 2018

- Gold Airline of the Year 2012

APEX Official Airline Ratings™ Awards (APEX, 2022)

- Five Star Airline by APEX

- World Class Airline title

Aviation Business Awards (Aviation Business, 2020)

- Airline of the Year 2020

Brand Finance (Brand Finance, 2022)

- World’s Most Valuable Airline Brand 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
- Middle East’s Most Valuable Brand 2014, 2015, 2016

Business Traveller Middle East Awards (Business Traveller Middle East, 2022)

- 9th consecutive Best Airline Worldwide as of 2022

- Multiple “Airline with the Best Economy Class” Awards
- Multiple “Airline with the Best Premium Economy Class” Awards

Skytrax World Airline Awards (Skytrax, 2022)

- 16th consecutive World’s Best Inflight Entertainment as of 2021

- Airline of the Year 2001, 2002, 2013, 2016

10
Lim Zhi Yee 1002162573 Emirates Airlines

World Travel Awards (World Travel Awards, 2022)

- Middle East’s Leading Airline Brand 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
- World’s Leading Airline 2021
- World’s Leading Airline for First Class 2001, 2004, 2006, 2017, 2021
- World’s Leading Cabin Crew 2019

In addition to awards, Emirates has continually achieved new standards for airlines
ever since it was founded. Back in 1992, the airline became the first airline in history
to have video systems installed in every seat of their aircrafts, including the economy
class, business class, and first class. Their inflight entertainment system, known as
ICE, feature various movies, TV shows, music, live TV, and even Emirate’s exclusive
Food & Wine Channel, where the passenger can find the secrets and behind-the-
scenes of Emirates Airlines’ menu. Today, Emirates still remain as one of the few
airlines in the world with screens in every airplane seat.

One year later, Emirates decided to introduce in-plane telecommunications throughout

the whole aircraft, which allowed passengers to make calls on-board with the aircraft’s
custom telephone. This was the first time an airline had done anything like this and it
attracted many customers as the concept of an on-board phone is highly convenient
for passengers who are on long flights and have important calls to make all the time.

In 1994, Emirates came up with yet another innovative idea – an on-board fax service.
The airline became the first airline to have a built-in fax facility within its Airbuses, and
it allowed passengers to stay connected to the world while on their flights for maximum
work efficiency.

The longest sponsorship in the English Premier League belongs to the partnership
between Emirates Airlines and Arsenal Football Club, which has been ongoing for over
18 years since 2004. The deal also includes naming rights to Arsenal’s home stadium,
which would be called Emirates Stadium.

As mentioned in the history of Emirates, the largest ever Boeing 777 aircraft order,
consisting of 42 planes, was placed by Emirates Airlines in 2005, which is quite an
impressive achievement. This also makes them the largest operator of the Boeing 777
aircrafts, with over a million departures and over a billion kilometres flown in just
Boeing 777s.

11
Lim Zhi Yee 1002162573 Emirates Airlines

Emirates made headline again in 2017, where the airline introduced arguably their
largest achievement - the world’s first ever private First-Class suite inside their flagship
Airbus A380 and Boeing 777. This was a huge step in terms of luxury in the aviation
industry. With zero-gravity beds, personalized lighting, even an on-board shower &
spa, Emirates has brought luxury flying to a whole new level.

In 2019, Emirates Airlines broke the Guinness World Record for the largest number of
nationalities on an aircraft. With passengers from 145 different countries, the flight took
place on UAE’s National Day in UAE’s Year of Tolerance, and the flight signified UAE’s
mission of being a bridge between different countries and cultures all over the world
through respect, acceptance, kindness, dialogue, openness, and most importantly
tolerance.

All these innovations and ideas shapes Emirates Airlines’ core identity as a luxury
airline, and as the world shifts further into the digital era, the airline will continue to
explore and develop new technology to implement into their high-end systems so that
the airline can continue attaining larger and larger achievements.

Services Provided by Emirates

The services an airline provides is the most important part of its brand. For a large
organization like Emirates, every single detail in its services need be spick and span,
because one little mistake may result in the displeasure of customers, or even worse,
the safety of passengers. The common services airlines provide include cabin,
catering, and ground services. Emirates also has several other services including its
famous in-flight entertainment system, lounges, cargo transport, on-board bar, and
even a chauffeur-ride (Mantur, 2015).

As with most airlines, Emirates Airlines’ cabin can be separated into Economy,
Business, and First Class. However, Emirates also provide an in-between class called
the Premium Economy Class. Emirates’ First-Class cabins have two different types, a
fully-enclosed seating and a semi-enclosed seating. With the fully-enclosed suite, the
seats come in private rooms with a full-sized sliding door, whereas the semi-enclosed
seating comes in a sort of cubicle arrangement with short doors. Moving on, the
second class is the Business Class cabin, featuring reclining seats and a partition

12
Lim Zhi Yee 1002162573 Emirates Airlines

between each seat for privacy. Both First Class and Business class passengers are
also entitled to the on-board bar at the back of the plane. For those who want to
experience a more luxurious flight while still being on the cost-saving side, Emirates
provides a Premium Economy Class that has a few extra benefits like wider space and
priority seating while still offering reasonable fares. However, the cheapest option still
belongs to the Economy Class, which offers standard seats but with limited foot space.

Fig.2 shows the seating plan of an A380-800, with First Class & Business on the
upper deck while Economy on the lower deck

Emirates Flight Catering is a subsidiary of the Emirates Group, and it is the main
catering service for Emirates Airlines as well as several other airlines in Dubai.
Emirates offers food and beverages for all its passengers as part of its catering
services, and the company produces over 200,000 meals in a single day, including
appetizers, main courses, snacks, etc. The 1,800 chefs from all around the world
develop a thousand menus every month, with cuisines ranging from Asian to Middle
Eastern to European dishes. For long-haul flights, passengers will get multiple meals
for breakfast, lunch, and a light bite, whereas medium-haul passengers will only get
breakfast meals during their flight, and a light bite for short-haul flights. The on-board

13
Lim Zhi Yee 1002162573 Emirates Airlines

bar in the A380 is also part of the Emirates catering service. Passengers are able to
order their favourite drinks and snacks from the bar and have it prepared right in front
of them by the bartenders, or the passengers can chat and wait in café-style tables
while having the drinks served to them.

Ground services ensure that customers are happy and satisfied all the way from the
start until the end. This includes their journey to the airport, their experience inside the
airport, as well as the ride to their destination from the airport. Emirates Airlines is one
of the few airlines that provides a complementary chauffeur service for their premium
passengers. The vehicle may vary according to each country, but customers in Dubai
will be picked up either in a Mercedes Benz S-Class or a BMW 5-Series.

Another ground service the airline provides is their luxurious lounges, which can be
found in the airport departure terminals of 32 different cities. However, premium
passengers can also enjoy the lounge services in other cities via a third-party service
if Emirates lounges aren’t available in that airport. Inside the lounge, passengers can
relax in a quite environment while enjoying food and beverages during the wait to
board, and some flights even allow passengers in the lounges to skip the queue and
board the plane directly from the lounge (Mantur, 2015).

Like many airlines, Emirates Airlines have their own cargo shipping service, called
Emirates SkyCargo. But unlike most airlines, Emirates does their cargo shipping at a
massive scale, and the airline’s freight service is the fourth largest cargo airline in the
world. With 12 dedicated aircrafts just for air freight services, and 5 more pending
delivery, the airline delivers to 80 countries around the world. Emirates offers a wide
range of cargo services including mail, pharmaceuticals, animals, valuables, and even
personal vehicles. Emirates ensure that all their cargo remain in perfect conditions so
that the goods will not be damaged during transport. They offer custom add-ons like
special containers for fragile objects, cooling systems for fresh produce, ventilation
systems for animals, door-to-door delivery service for automobiles, and many other
services. During the 2020 pandemic, passenger flights became unpopular due to
travel restrictions, resulting in huge profit losses. This made Emirates resort to the
delivery of vaccines for uncommon locations like Seychelles and the State of Palestine
for business via SkyCargo. These vaccines were stored in special containers with
ultra-cold refrigeration and other modifications for maximum preservation.

14
Lim Zhi Yee 1002162573 Emirates Airlines

All of the services above plays an important role in Emirates, from baggage to
amenities to food and beverage. These services ensure that Emirates’ passengers will
always have the best time during their travels, and also have the highest customer
satisfaction possible.

Competitors

Being a world-renowned multi-billion dollar company, Emirates Airlines is bound to

have its fair share of competition with other airlines. Since Emirates’ start-up in 1985,
many new airlines have formed and gained popularity rapidly, amongst them Emirates
Airlines’ neighbours Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways. During Emirate Airline’s early
years, the airline overtook its main competitor Gulf Air, in terms of profits, within 2 years
of operation. The flag carrier of Bahrain (Gulf Air) had already been in operation for
over 35 years during that time, which shows just how successful Emirates are.

Today, there are over five thousand airlines in the whole world, and it would be almost
impossible, if not impossible, to determine Emirates Airlines’ exact rank in the aviation
industry as a huge number of factors are involved, for example: brand value, regional
flights, kilometres flown for scheduled passengers, company revenue, and much more.
Emirates may have the highest brand value, but American Airlines still have the most
regional flights and company revenue while Ryanair tops the board for the largest
number of routes. It would be extremely difficult to factor in every single statistic and
identify the airline’s rank among the many airlines. However, it is possible to deduce
Emirates Airlines’ top competitors by looking at each individual statistic. In this paper
we will cover three main competitors of Emirates Airlines: American Airlines, Lufthansa,
and Qatar Airways, each with their unique competitive factors.

15
Lim Zhi Yee 1002162573 Emirates Airlines

Scheduled passenger-kilometres flown in 2018, 2019 &

2020 in millions
400,000

350,000

300,000

250,000

200,000

150,000

100,000

50,000

0
American Airlines Emirates Airlines Lufthansa Qatar Airways

2018 2019 2020

Fig.3 shows a bar graph comparing the kilometres flown in 2018, 2019 & 2020 by
Emirates Airlines and its competitors (IATA, 2019; IATA, 2020; IATA, 2021)

American Airlines is widely considered to be the largest airline in the world, due to its
large fleet size, billion-dollar company revenue, and seemingly endless number of
passengers per year. Based in Texas, United States, the airline has been operating for
more than 80 years, making it one of the oldest airlines in the world. The airline owes
much of its profits and success to its domestic flights, with over 60% of the airline’s
revenue generated from these flights. Moreover, the main hub of American Airlines is
located in Dallas, which is directly in the middle of the United States, making it super
accessible to the whole country. However, the airline also has multiple hubs scattered
around the U.S., including Los Angeles, Washington, Miami, Chicago, and four others
(American Airlines, 2022). One of the reasons American Airlines is a major competitor
to Emirates is because of the airline’s ability to fulfil enormous demands quickly.
Although Emirates currently holds the title of the largest Airbus A380 and Boeing 777
operator, the Dubai flag carrier’s fleet of 252 looks almost miniscule compared to
American Airlines’ 900 aircrafts (Bhasin, 2018). The large number of planes allow the
airline to direct numerous flights to various destinations per day, whereas Emirates
have a very limited number of flights per day. Therefore, American Airlines dominates
the competition between Emirates for the western customers.

16
Lim Zhi Yee 1002162573 Emirates Airlines

Deutsche Lufthansa AG, flag carrier of Germany, has the third highest company
revenue in the world, one rank lower than American Airlines. Lufthansa is considerably
the largest airline in Europe, and the airline is also part of the Lufthansa Group along
with other airlines like Austrian Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines AG, and Brussels
Airlines (Lufthansa, 2022). The airline has two hubs in Germany, both located in the
centre of Europe, making it a convenient place for transit flights. In addition, this allows
Lufthansa to have a wider range of destinations. Lufthansa is a big competitor of
Emirates due to its advantages with their balance sheet and also their in-flight services.
On top of that, most European customers would prefer to travel via Lufthansa for short-
haul flights instead of Emirates, due to its geographic advantage. However, the largest
competition between these two airlines is still the battle for the best transit hub. As
both airlines are located in the middle of the globe, it makes them the best places for
an international hub.

The third major competitor of Emirates Airlines is its neighbouring airline, Qatar
Airways. Founded in 1993, Qatar Airways is a relatively new airline in the aviation
industry. Like Emirates, Qatar Airways quickly escalated and developed into one of
Middle East’s leading airlines, partly due to its advantageous geographical location
and also partly due to its highly rated services (Qatar Airways, 2017). Because
Emirates Airlines is such a large and successful airline, the Dubai International Airport
is always crowded with transit-passengers, tourists, and staff. Therefore, the
passengers who want a quieter and less chaotic environment but with similar services
will be attracted towards Qatar Airways and its home hub, Hamad International Airport.
This is one of the many reasons airlines in the Persian Gulf are doing so well, including
Etihad Airways and Saudi Arabian Airways. Even though airlines like these benefits so
much from Emirates, none of them have come close to overtaking the giant in recent
times.

17
Lim Zhi Yee 1002162573 Emirates Airlines

Fig.4 shows a bar graph of various airlines in the Middle East and its number of
seats in the year 2018 & 2019 (CAPA, 2019)

Advantage of Emirates Airlines Compared to its Competitors

Unlike airlines like American Airlines or Delta Airlines, Emirates does not have any
regional flights. All of Emirates Airlines’ flights are international, which may or may not
be a good thing. The main disadvantage of this is the loss of possible profits from
domestic flights, especially during the 2020 pandemic when international borders were
closed. Emirates did not have any intra-Emirates flight to fall back upon for its income,
hence the $3.4 billion half-year net loss in 2020. However, in pre-pandemic and post-
pandemic conditions, not having domestic flights may be an advantage for the airline.
This is because without regional flights, Emirates are able to focus all their manpower
into international flights, meaning they do not waste time and resources planning
additional routes and flights every month which, for such a small country like UAE,
would earn little profits and ultimately be a waste of time. Other than that, Emirates
can instead use all their resources to expand their network into many other uncommon
countries, like planning brand new routes to and from new destinations. This is a
suitable replacement for regional flights as Dubai is located just eight hours from 66%
of the world’s population.

As mentioned above, Airport is within an eight hour range from two-thirds of the world.
It also happens to be four hours away from a third of the world’s population, and both

18
Lim Zhi Yee 1002162573 Emirates Airlines

these advantages are part of Emirates Airline’s marketing strategy. Similar to its
neighbouring airlines, Emirates’ main hub has been blessed with a convenient
geographical location. This is a major advantage over its competitors like American
Airlines and Lufthansa as its location allows Dubai to become a super-hub for transit
flights all over the world, including Asia-Pacific, Western Asia, Africa, Europe, and
Oceania. Because transit flights are considerably cheaper than a direct flight, this
would increase the chances of travellers ending up in Dubai’s transit hub with an
Emirates Airlines ticket and boosting the airline’s sales.

Emirates Airlines stands out particularly in its flight destinations. As of 2022, Emirates
serve 140 cities in 80 countries, making it one of the top five airlines worldwide in terms
of countries served, over Lufthansa, American Airlines, and Qatar Airways. Naturally,
passengers will be able to board certain flights on Emirates Airlines that are not
available on other airlines, which gives Emirates a slight advantage over its
competitors, especially Qatar Airways as the two have similar locations. However,
what stands out the most is the type of countries that Emirates chooses as its
destinations. Emirates are willing to service places that most airlines consider too risky
and dangerous, either due to war or likelihood to terrorist attacks (Abdellatif, 2012). An
analyst living in Dubai stated, “Terminal two was known as the “death” terminal,
because that was the terminal that would fly to places like Kabul, Baghdad, Beirut.
This is part of Emirates Airlines’ strategy of going into places other airlines don’t”. The
airline has greatly benefited from this strategy as it has not only increased profits, but
also boosted the airline’s exposure to new customers who fly to these risky places.

Top 6 airlines based on number of countries

served in 2019
140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0
Turkish Air France British Ethiopian Emirates Qatar Airways
Airlines Airways Airlines Airlines

Fig.5 shows the number of countries served by top airlines pre-pandemic

19
Lim Zhi Yee 1002162573 Emirates Airlines

Emirates serve a great deal of different countries, and its passengers come from a
variety of different countries as well. Hence, the airline feels obligated to employ flight
attendants from all over the world, and the wide diversity of the cabin crew allows
passengers and flight attendants on-board to communicate effectively via multiple
languages, which is a rarity for airlines that have a large percentage of domestic
employees like American Airlines or United Airlines. Another appealing factor is the
cuisines that Emirates serve its passengers on flights. The airline caters their services
based on the destinations of the flights, meaning that a variety of cuisines will be made
each day depending on the flights of that particular day. This is partly to welcome local
residents back into their country by providing a taste of home, and also partly to
introduce foreigners into the country by offering them their first taste of the food there.
Needless to say, Emirates’ thoughtful food and beverage services definitely makes the
airline stand out amongst its competitors.

The whole brand and image of Emirates Airlines is based on its luxurious and high-
class services, and that is quite an important factor when it comes to the satisfaction
of customers. From its assortment of in-flight entertainments to its sumptuous First-
Class suites, Emirates has been at the top of the luxury business for quite some time
now. All these innovative services that Emirates have implemented into its system
adds to its reputation of being the world’s leading luxury airline, with evidence from
numerous awards and customer reviews. Being an airline with one of the highest
quality services in the aviation industry, customers who want a great experience during
their travel will tend to gravitate towards Emirates Airlines, which is another advantage
Emirates has over other airlines.

An interesting strategy that Emirates Airlines implemented into its business model is
the decision to have a full wide-body fleet, which makes them one of few airlines in the
world to have done so. A wide-body aircraft is a type of passenger plane that is larger
in size than a typical aircraft, and has at least seven seats per row. These aircrafts
allow a higher capacity of passengers per flight, thus increasing profits while reducing
costs on maintenance of multiple equivalent narrow-body aircrafts. On top of that,
wide-body aircrafts have proven to be more fuel efficient compared to narrow-body
aircrafts. This allows for an extensive flight time which suits the long-haul flights that
Emirates focuses so much on. Due to the low operating costs of the airline, Emirates

20
Lim Zhi Yee 1002162573 Emirates Airlines

are able to have low, competitive fares, which is a huge advantage and one of the
main reasons so many passengers prefer to fly with Emirates (Bass, 2015).

Another advantage of Emirates Airlines is related to its flight safety record. As of 2022,
Emirates has sustained a clean safety record of zero passenger deaths as well as
zero crew deaths in all its operations, and the airline has been deemed as one of the
safest airlines in the world. This alone makes passengers way more confident when
flying with Emirates compared to other airlines, and safety is a key factor when it
comes to choosing airlines.

Because Emirates is a relatively new company compared to other airlines like

Lufthansa and American Airlines who have been operating for over 50 years, they have
a lot less non-profitable costs like pension plans as part of legacy costs as the airline
does not have many long-serving or retired employees. This means that Emirates do
not have to raise their fares to account for their extra costs, which is why Emirates are
able to maintain such competitive prices in the market (UKEssays, 2018).

Safe to say, Emirates Airlines has quite a large number of advantages over its
competitors due to the airline’s ability to make effective financial decisions and also its
excellent management while taking advantage of its geographical location and political
support.

Conclusion

As Dubai and the UAE continue to grow, Emirates Airlines will also continue to develop
alongside its home country. UAE and its flag carrier Emirates Airlines are linked to
each other in a very unique manner, and none can succeed without the other. Based
on the various awards and achievements Emirates has obtained over the years, the
company’s business strategy has been proven to be an effective one. Emirates’
business model maximizes the airline’s success and profits by taking advantage of
several major external factors like the company’s age, its location, and the support
from its government, while also implementing internal advantages to its strategy, for
example: an all wide-body fleet of aircraft, luxury services, effective pricing, clean
safety record, etc. Emirates is constantly trying new innovations and technology to
gain a competitive edge over its major competitors, mainly American Airlines,

21
Lim Zhi Yee 1002162573 Emirates Airlines

Lufthansa, and its neighbour Qatar Airways. Each of these airlines have their individual
factors that makes them stand out as a competitor, and we went over a few advantages
Emirates has over each competitor, including its wide range of destinations, well-
planned catering services, diverse employees, and others.

The recent pandemic has had a massive toll on Dubai’s tourism industry as well as
Emirates’ aviation sector, but we can expect to see a steady increase in the market as
travel restrictions start to give way again. It might take some time for people to feel
confident enough to spend on things like tourism again, but the demand for plane
flights will be expected to return to pre-pandemic levels soon due to business trips,
immigration, medical reasons, etc. In the meantime, Emirates Airlines will continue
developing new strategies and plans to overcome these new economic challenges, as
well as Dubai’s further collaboration with the airline.

22
Lim Zhi Yee 1002162573 Emirates Airlines

References

Abdellatif, S.G.T., 2012. An insight into Emirates Airline’s strategies and an analysis of
how it is helping the company to sustain a competitive advantage over its rivals.

Air Transport Awards, 2022. Awards. [online]. Available from:

https://www.airtransportawards.aero/?page_id=294

Al Saed, R., Upadhya, A. and Saleh, M.A., 2020. Role of airline promotion activities in
destination branding: Case of Dubai vis-à-vis Emirates Airline.

American Airlines, 2022. History of American Airlines. [online]. Available from:

https://www.aa.com/i18n/customer-service/about-us/history-of-american-
airlines.jsp#:~:text=95%20years%20strong,into%20what%20it%20is%20today.

APEX, 2022. Official Airline Ratings™. [online]. Available from:

https://apex.aero/awards/official-airline-ratings/

Aviation Business, 2020. AVB AWARDS 2020: All winners revealed as aviation
industry recognises resilience. [online]. Available from:
https://www.aviationbusinessme.com/airlines/22619-avb-awards-2020-all-winners-
revealed-as-aviation-industry-recognises-resilience

Bass, 2015. Emirates Airlines: the international carrier.

Bhasin, H., 2018. Marketing Strategy of American Airlines – American Airlines

Marketing Strategy.

Brand Finance, 2022. Brand Finance Global 500 2022. [online]. Available from:
https://brandirectory.com/rankings/global/

Business Traveller Middle East, 2022. Revealed: Winners of the 2022 Business
Traveller Middle East Awards. [online]. Available from:
https://www.businesstraveller.com/business-travel/2022/05/10/revealed-winners-of-
the-business-traveller-middle-east-2022-awards/

CAPA, 2019. Middle East Aviation Outlook 2020: Growth to resume, modestly. [online].
Available from: https://centreforaviation.com/analysis/airline-leader/middle-east-
aviation-outlook-2020-growth-to-resume-modestly-504783

23
Lim Zhi Yee 1002162573 Emirates Airlines

Emirates, 2022. About Us. [online]. Available from:

https://www.emirates.com/my/english/about-us/

IATA (International Air Transport Association), 2019. World Air Transport Statistics
2019.

IATA (International Air Transport Association), 2020. World Air Transport Statistics,
Plus Edition 2020.

IATA (International Air Transport Association), 2021. World Air Transport Statistics,
Plus Edition 2021.

Lufthansa Group, 2022. History. [online]. Available from:

https://www.lufthansagroup.com/en/company/history.html#:~:text=In%201960%2C%
20Lufthansa%20arrived%20in,to%20expand%20its%20cargo%20business.

Mantur, N., 2015. The Emirates: Airline Company or a global lifestyle brand?

Qatar Airways, 2017. The Qatar Airways Story. Charting The Rise Of One Of The
Fastest Growing Airlines In The World.

Skytrax, 2022. Skytrax World Airline Awards. [online]. Available from:

https://www.worldairlineawards.com/award-winners-for-2021/

UKEssays, 2018. The competitive advantage of Emirates Airline. [online]. Available

from: https://www.ukessays.com/essays/management/the-competitive-advantage-of-
emirates-airline-management-essay.php

World Travel Awards, 2022. World Travel Awards. [online]. Available from:
https://www.worldtravelawards.com/winners/2021/world

24