How Emirates took flight for the first time to begin 40 years of soaring success

Airline carried dignitaries and senior staff on maiden voyage to Pakistan in October 1985

With a roar of twin jet engines, the Airbus 300 in its unfamiliar livery cleared the runway at Dubai International Airport and climbed steadily east over the Arabian Gulf towards its destination in Pakistan.

It was just after 11.45am on Friday, October 25, 1985, and Emirates airline had begun its first flight. The relatively modest beginnings of the airline 40 years ago may be hard to believe these days. Having started with two aircraft and operating flights to Karachi and Mumbai only, the airline now flies to more than 150 destinations and has a fleet of nearly 270 planes.

The airline soared out of a sense of frustration within the UAE's aviation sector. Gulf Air, the carrier owned at the time by a partnership of Gulf powers, had cut back on services to Dubai just as the city’s economy was expanding.

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In 1984, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, who was Minister of Defence at the time, spoke to Maurice Flanagan, who at the time was managing director of dnata, the travel agency and airport services company for Dubai.

Could he create a new airline in a matter of months and with starting capital of only $10 million? The mission statement was for the airline to “look good, be good, and make money". Could he deliver? The answer, as the world now knows, was a resounding yes.

Two aircraft were leased from Pakistan International Airlines. The airbus and a Boeing 737 were repainted with the Emirates logo and a tail design in the colours of the UAE flag.

Emirates picked Karachi and Mumbai as its initial destinations. Short-haul flights to the Indian subcontinent were sure to be popular – and profitable, as a result – given the demographics of Dubai.

Flight EK 600, which still operates today under the same code, left exactly on time at 11.45am, after a ribbon-cutting ceremony. It carried 11 crew members, including four women, wearing the now familiar uniforms.

The passengers, who included dignitaries and senior airline staff, were issued with paper tickets and had a baggage allowance of 20kg. The price of a return ticket in economy was about Dh1,500 ($408). Shortly afterwards, the second aircraft took off for Mumbai.

Pakistan International Airlines provided the flight crew, including Capt Fazle Ghani, who died in October 2021, and co-pilot Capt Ejaz ul Haq. Both men joined the flight as part of an agreement to launch Emirates that included ground crew and engineers, as well as a deal to train pilots for Emirates.

The two-hour flight to Karachi was uneventful, with passengers greeted with flower garlands, before making the return trip later that day. The first Emirates flight to land at Dubai arrived at 5pm and Flanagan, who was on board for both legs, declared the airline had enjoyed a promising start.

Capt Ghani said the crew faced only one minor problem, with some of the pilots’ hats being too large for their heads. "They looked quite funny," he added.

“We pushed back and took off on time and this signalled a great achievement for the airline in such a short period of time,” he said as the airline marked its 30th year in 2015. “I was blessed to be with very competent professionals to lay the foundation of Emirates.”

40 years of Emirates - in pictures

The red carpet is rolled out for the inaugural Emirates flight in 1985. Photo: Emirates

The first Emirates flight in 1985. Photo: Emirates

The first passengers board the inaugural Emirates flight. Photo: Emirates

Ernie Els of South Africa with the winner's trophy and Emirates stewardesses after the final round of golf's Dubai Desert Classic in 1994. Getty Images

Emirates’ first Boeing 777 A6-EMD touches down at Dubai International Airport after a flight from Seattle in June 1996. Photo: Ejaz Ul Haq

Emirates chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed with a model of the new A3XX superjumbo jet at the Farnborough Air Show in 2001. Getty Images

An Emirates aircraft gets hosed down in 2003 after touching down at Auckland International Airport, New Zealand. Getty Images

Maurice Flanagan, vice chairman and group president of Emirates, Arsenal FC chairman Peter Hill-Wood, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and Keith Edelman, Arsenal managing director, outside the club's new Emirates Stadium development in north London in 2004. Getty Images

Emirates president Tim Clark receives a scale model of an Emirates Team New Zealand yacht from the nation's America's Cup Minister Trevor Mallard in Auckland, in 2004. Getty Images

Visitors watching an Emirates Airbus A380 taking off during the Dubai Airshow in 2005. AFP

Ron Dennis, team principal of McLaren Mercedes F1 team and and Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed announce a new sponsorship deal in 2006 in Berlin. Getty Images

Emirates flight attendants serve passengers during a demonstration flight of the Boeing 777 long-haul aircraft in Dubai in 2007. AFP

Workers celebrate beside the Airbus A380 in 2008 in Hamburg, Germany. The world's largest passenger jetliner was to be delivered to Emirates airline. Getty Images

Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, walking through an aisle of the second Emirates A380 superjumbo at Dubai International Airport in 2008. AFP

Ground crews watch an Emirates flight from Dubai taxi-ing towards a gate in 2008 as it becomes the first commercial Airbus A380 jet to land in the US, at JFK International Airport in New York. AFP

John Leahy, chief operating officer of Airbus, Adel Al Redha, executive vice president of Emirates Engineering and Operations, and Tom Enders, Airbus CEO, during the handover of the A380 to the Emirates airline in Hamburg, Germany, in 2010. Getty Images

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed and Mr Enders sign an agreement confirming that Emirates is to purchase more Airbus A380 aircraft, as German Chancellor Angela Merkel looks on at the Berlin Airshow in 2010. Getty Images

An Emirates Airbus A380 plane taxis on the tarmac after landing at Pudong International Airport in Shanghai. Flight EK302 was the first regular A380 service to land in the Chinese city, in 2011. Getty Images

A plane model bearing the colours of Emirates holds a camera above the Roland Garros stadium on the opening day of the French Open tennis in Paris in 2013. AFP

The Emirati Al Fursan aerobatic team fly past an Emirates A380 during the Dubai Airshow in 2013. Getty Images

Team California Chrome celebrates with the trophy after victory in the Dubai World Cup of horse racing in 2016, sponsored by Emirates. Getty Images

An Emirates plane flies over the pitch to celebrate the event's 50th anniversary at the World Rugby Sevens Series in Dubai in 2019. Getty Images

An Airbus A380-800 passenger plane, operated by Emirates, at the Dubai Airshow in 2023. Getty Images