Emirates moved 55.6m customers in 2025, circled Earth 29,290 times on nearly 180,580 flights and placed orders for 73 new aircraft, capping a year that underscored its scale, ambition and long-term investment in the future of aviation.
While the airline celebrated its 40th year of operations in October, 2025 was defined less by nostalgia and more by momentum, as Emirates accelerated fleet renewal, expanded premium offerings, deepened connectivity and reinforced its global brand across travel, sport and service excellence.
Here are the 10 highlights that shaped Emirates’ year.
Emirates A350 takes off
The first Emirates A350 entered commercial service in early January with its maiden journey to Edinburgh. Since then, the A350 network has expanded rapidly, with 16 Emirates A350s now flying to 18 cities across Europe, West Asia, the Middle East and Australia.
The aircraft is set to debut in the Americas with services to Montreal in February 2026.
Looking East
Emirates strengthened its Asian footprint in 2025 with two new Chinese mainland destinations — Shenzhen and Hangzhou — served by non-stop daily flights.
The airline also launched services to Danang in Vietnam and Siem Reap, Cambodia via Bangkok, aligning capacity with growing trade and business demand across East Asia and China.
More Premium Economy
Throughout the year, Emirates introduced more next-generation Airbus A350s and retrofitted Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 aircraft featuring its award-winning Premium Economy cabin.
Today, close to 70 cities are served by more than 100 aircraft with the latest Emirates cabin interiors, accounting for roughly 40 per cent of the airline’s passenger fleet.
Starlink Wi-Fi
In November, at the Dubai Airshow, Emirates announced the rollout of Starlink Wi-Fi across 232 aircraft. Beginning with its Boeing 777 fleet, the programme will expand to make Emirates the world’s first airline with Starlink-equipped A380s in early 2026.
Installation is progressing at around 11 aircraft per month, with more than 123 aircraft expected to offer complimentary ultra-fast connectivity by the end of the year.
Emirates announced nine major sports sponsorship deals and renewals in 2025, reinforcing its position as one of the world’s most visible airline brands through the 2030s.
Key milestones included a seven-year partnership with FC Bayern Munich, making Emirates a Platinum Partner and marking its return to the Bundesliga.
The airline also signed a historic contract extension with World Rugby through 2035 — its longest sponsorship commitment — and became rugby’s first-ever Platinum Partner.
Additional agreements included a new partnership with European Professional Club Rugby, as well as deals with Real Madrid Basketball, AC Milan, Olympique Lyonnais, the ATP Tour and UAE Team Emirates XRG.
Emirates Courier Express
Emirates launched Emirates Courier Express, enabling direct package delivery on its passenger fleet rather than routing through multiple hubs.
The service now operates across 10 international markets after adding Australia and Germany, handling more than 50,000 packages to date with an average delivery time of just three days.
Emirates Skywards turns 25
Emirates Skywards marked its Silver Jubilee in 2025 with a commemorative A380 livery and month-long member activations. The programme now counts 37m members across 190 countries and has distributed nearly 400bn miles over the past 20 years.
Today, members redeem more than 800 flight rewards daily, with one upgrade processed every minute, and the programme continues to add around 78,000 new members each week.
The airline’s Aircrafted KIDS’ CSR initiative distributed more than 3,700 handcrafted backpacks to underprivileged children across eight countries in Africa, West Asia and the Middle East.
Engineering Maintenance Assistants made the bags from more than 50,000 kg of upcycled materials and filled them with essential stationery and locally sourced books. The programme will expand further in 2026.
Accessible travel
Emirates became the world’s first Autism Certified Airline, training more than 30,000 cabin crew and ground staff to support customers with autism and sensory sensitivities.
Service enhancements also included a safety-approved hooded mattress in Business Class, expanded closed-caption and audio-description content on ice, barrier-free airport design at Dubai International and plans to introduce 10 wheelchair-accessible chauffeur vehicles by early 2026.
Long-term investment
In July, the airline opened Emirates First, an exclusive private check-in facility at Terminal 3, Dubai International, designed for First Class customers and Skywards Platinum members. Onboard, the airline refined its First-Class experience with new menus, Robert Welch-designed caviar bowls and updated service details.
The airline also opened its Centre of Hospitality Excellence in Dubai to train nearly 25,000 cabin crew in Michelin star-standard service and introduced new children’s products made with a minimum of 50 per cent recycled content.
