Emirates records busiest summer, carries over 14M passengers

Dubai’s Emirates, the world’s largest international airline has experienced one of its busiest summers ever, carrying over 14 million passengers between June and August with an average load factor surpassing 80 per cent.

This strong performance shows demand for international travel across the Emirates’ global network, according to booking trends.

Dubai remained a popular choice for travellers, attracting two million customers during summer.

Top inbound markets to Dubai included the UK, India, Germany, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, China, Egypt, and Kuwait.

More than 35 percent of the visitors who travelled to Dubai on Emirates were families, staying an average of more than two weeks.

The airline expects increased demand for winter travel to Dubai due to global conferences and sporting events. Dubai has already welcomed more than 8.5 million international visitors in the first half of 2023.

“Travel demand across our network has been strong and resilient despite rising cost-of-living pressures in many markets. It shows the value that people place on travel – whether for work, play, study, or visiting loved ones; and how essential international air connectivity is to communities,” Emirates’ Chief Commercial Officer, Adnan Kazim said.

This summer, Emirates operated

• Emirates operated nearly 50,000 flights to and from 140 cities, with an extensive network of 157 airline and rail partners, providing access to more than 800 cities in 100 countries.

• Emirates has expanded its network by launching daily flights to Montreal, Canada and adding flights to 12 cities to meet summer demand.

• The cities include Athens, Brisbane, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Amsterdam, Budapest, Bologna, Medina, Jeddah, Entebbe, Venice and Shanghai.

• They have also reintroduced daily A380 services to various destinations such as Birmingham, Nice, Taipei and Shanghai and launched a new A380 service to Bali, Indonesia.

• The airline unveiled a 4-class A380 aircraft with Premium Economy seats for select routes and expanded its codeshare arrangements with Kenya Airways, Air Canada and Philippine Airlines.