Emirates was founded in 1985, after Gulf Air cut its flights to Dubai. The ruling Maktoum family put up 10 million dollars in start-up money and leased two aircraft from Pakistan International Airlines. The new airline had to survive without subsidies, meaning state handouts. Its first flight left Dubai for Karachi on October 25, 1985. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum led the company.
Maurice Flanagan and Tim Clark ran it day to day. Through the 1990s Emirates added a new city every few months, at a relentless pace. Dubai opened its skies to all airlines, a policy that let foreign carriers fly in freely, and the city became a global crossroads. Emirates went on to define the Airbus A380, ordering 123 of them, close to half of all superjumbos ever built.
It paired the A380 with the world's largest Boeing 777 fleet. Onboard showers and a cocktail bar made the superjumbo famous. From one base at Dubai International, Emirates reaches six continents, and sister airline flydubai feeds it passengers. It is the largest international carrier on earth. Profitable for decades, it set records in the mid-2020s. Billions now go into refitting hundreds of planes while it awaits the Boeing 777X.