In 1985, HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum — then Dubai’s head of civil aviation — championed an idea that sounded almost recklessly small: start an airline with two leased aircraft and a modest budget, and run it without subsidy or protection. Four decades on, that airline is Emirates, one of the largest and most admired carriers on Earth, and the living symbol of Dubai’s rise.
The Emirates story is the purest example of his method. Start with what you have. Refuse to think small about where it can go. Measure the result against the world’s best, not the region’s average. The airline that began with two borrowed planes now connects Dubai to the world — and turned a trading port into a global crossroads.
The Brief: An Airline With Two Leased Planes
The starting conditions deserve emphasis, because they are the point of the story. Emirates did not begin with a fleet order, a giant state fund or a guaranteed monopoly. It began with two leased aircraft and a modest budget, championed by Sheikh Mohammed in his capacity as the head of Dubai’s civil aviation.
The philosophy mattered more than the metal. The new airline would stand on its own commercially. It would compete on service, network and reliability. In a region where flag carriers were often run as government departments, Emirates was designed from day one to behave like a business — the same private-sector logic he later applied across Dubai’s government itself.
Why an Airline, Why Then
Dubai had always lived by connection. The Creek’s dhows made it a trading hub; his father’s ports — Port Rashid and Jebel Ali — made it the Gulf’s cargo crossroads. By the 1980s, the next connection technology was aviation, and the geography was identical: Dubai sits within a few hours’ flying time of billions of people.
Sheikh Mohammed saw the airport and the airline as the Creek and the dhow reborn — the infrastructure through which everything else would flow. Tourists, traders, cargo and talent all arrive through the sky in the modern economy. Whoever owned the connection would own the future.
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From Modest Budget to Global Giant
The growth that followed is a matter of record: Emirates is today among the world’s largest airlines, a byword for long-haul travel, and a central pillar of Dubai’s economy. Its hub turned Dubai International into one of the busiest airports on the planet and made the city a default stopover between East and West.
Just as important is what the airline carried besides passengers. It carried Dubai’s brand. For millions of travellers, their first image of Dubai is an Emirates cabin, an Emirates route map, an Emirates-sponsored shirt or stadium. The airline became the city’s global advertising — proof, repeated daily on every continent, that the small port intended to compete at the highest level.
The Lesson He Repeats Everywhere
Sheikh Mohammed’s career is full of projects that began amid scepticism about scale: a free zone at Jebel Ali, a palm-shaped island, a metro in a car city, an Arab probe to Mars. Emirates was the template. His official motto — “In the race of excellence… there is no finish line” — is practically the airline’s operating manual.
It is also why 1985 matters in any account of his leadership. Before Dubai had the money to build icons, it had a method: lease two planes, set world-class standards, and grow. The skyline came later. The method came first.
Frequently Asked Questions
When was Emirates founded and what was Sheikh Mohammed’s role?
Emirates was launched in 1985. Sheikh Mohammed, then head of Dubai’s civil aviation, championed its creation and its commercial, unsubsidised philosophy.
How did Emirates start?
With two leased aircraft and a modest budget — a famously small beginning for what became one of the world’s largest airlines.
Why did Dubai need its own airline?
Dubai’s economy has always run on connection — first the Creek and the ports, then aviation. An airline turned the city into a global crossroads for passengers, cargo, tourists and talent.
How big is Emirates today?
It is among the world’s largest airlines and a central pillar of Dubai’s economy, carrying the city’s brand to every continent.
