Emirates aircraft have travelled more than 432 million kilometres since January 2016, the equivalent of traversing the globe more than 10,700 times. This time-lapse video captures Emirates aircraft arriving and departing at its hub in Dubai, in what looks like aircraft ‘ballet’.
A typical week sees the airline operating more than 3,600 flights, with more than 96,000 flights operated in the first half of 2016.
Emirates is the world’s largest international airline, serving 154 destinations across 81 countries on six continents with 252 aircraft.
The airline flies to 39 European destinations, making Dubai an ideal stopover on your way to Europe.
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It is also the largest operator of the Airbus A380, with 81 of these double-decker aircraft serving more than 40 global destinations.
Australia is the third-largest A380 destination for Emirates globally and this month the airline added a second daily A380 from Dubai to Perth. Emirates now offers double daily A380 services from Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, as well as daily A380 services from Brisbane.
Emirates serves more than 100 destinations around the globe. Picture: Emirates
Emirates also operates the largest family of Boeing 777 aircraft, with 157 of these popular wide-bodies connecting Dubai to 109 destinations around the world.
Last month, Emirates was named the World’s Best Airline 2016 at the Skytrax World Airline Awards, the fourth time it has won best airline. It also garnered Best Airline in the Middle East, and World’s Best Inflight Entertainment for the 12th year running, as voted by airline passengers.
Emirates president Sir Tim Clark said: “We are honoured to be recognised by the prestigious Skytrax awards. Emirates has always put our customers at the heart of what we do, and we work hard to deliver the very best experience possible to our customers at every touch point, every day, all around the world.”
Skytrax CEO Edward Plaisted said: "This fourth World's Best Airline title for Emirates is a fantastic achievement and true testament to the airline’s popularity … The IFE that Emirates provides is a continued focal point for passenger praise and it is important to note that customers were not only impressed with the programming but also the superior hardware standards, particularly for the A380 fleet."
Emirates staff with the airline's haul of Skytrax awards. Picture: Emirates
Over the past 12 months, Emirates has rolled out several new products and services, including the new 777-300ER Business Class seat; expanding its global Emirates Lounge network to 39 with the opening of new facilities in Cape Town; launching new children’s toys and activity kits both on board and in the lounges and new amenity kit bags for First and Business Class travellers, investing more than $US140 million ($A184 million) in its wine program for all cabin classes in 2015, and much more.
Emirates’ 12-year run as winner of the World’s Best Inflight Entertainment award is thanks to its ice entertainment system, which has 2,689 channels, including more than 90 dedicated children’s channels.
Ranging from the latest blockbuster movies, award-winning television box sets, comedy series, live TV, music and computer games, ice is constantly expanding to offer even greater choice. It also has an enhanced selection of content for hearing and visually impaired customers with Audio Description and Closed Captions Content offered in 37 languages.
The airline has also expanded Live TV across its fleet, including Live TV Sports Channels featuring high-profile sporting events, including this year’s Rio Olympics.
