Rank: 1
Emirates
Chairman and CEO: Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum
Date of Establishment: 1985
Country: U.A.E.
Emirates was established in 1985 with a seed fund of $10 million. In the first five years of its operations, it only flew to 14 destinations. Today, Emirates travels to 120 destinations with a fleet of 270 aircraft. More than 15.8 million passengers traveled with the Dubai-based airline in 2020, with 1.2 million customers flying with Emirates between July and August of 2021. In January 2021, it began to trial the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA’s) Travel Pass, which enables passengers to create a digital passport to verify their pre-travel test or vaccination requirements.