It is hard to imagine today's commercial aviation industry without major Gulf carriers such as Emirates and Qatar Airways. It is also challenging to picture what the story of the Airbus A380 would have looked like without the former of these carriers. Nowadays, Emirates flies widebodies to all corners of the world.

However, looking back to when the superjumbo operator extraordinaire launched its first-ever scheduled services to Karachi and Mumbai, everything about the airline was that little bit smaller. In addition to its maiden commercial services, it also had pre-launch VIP flights, which were escorted over Dubai by fighter jets.

Flight EK600 made history 38 years ago

Over the years, and particularly since it began flying the Airbus A380, Emirates has become a go-to airline not only for people traveling to the futuristic emirate of Dubai, but also for those looking for comfortable transfers between Europe and Asia. However, both of Emirates' first routes actually took off eastwards.

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An Emirates Airbus A300 about to land.
Photo: Aero Icarus | Wikimedia Commons

Thirty-eight years ago this week, on October 25th, 1985, the airline's inaugural flight left Dubai International Airport (DXB) in the UAE for Jinnah International (KHI) in Karachi, Pakistan, designated as flight EK600. According to data from Flightradar24, Emirates still operates this two-hour-long flight with the same number every morning, using the twin-engine Boeing 777-300ER for the departure at 07:40 local time.

On the special day, the carrier's inaugural flight pushed back and took off at its scheduled departure time. Captain Fazal Ghani Mian piloted the plane and shared his memories from the flight and the preparations leading up to it in connection with the 35th anniversary of Emirates' operations. He told Arab News:

"We operated the first official flight to Karachi with top royal dignitaries of UAE and employees of Emirates onboard. The landing was so smooth that nobody realized the aircraft had landed. This was the beginning of Emirates."

Prayers for pre-launch VIP flights

Emirates' second flight took off for Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM) shortly afterward. The two services were operated by an Airbus A300 and a Boeing 737-300, with the planes arriving in Dubai only five days beforehand, both on wet lease from Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).

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An Emirates Airbus A300 about to land.
Photo: Dean Morley | Flickr

Before they departed from Pakistan, these aircraft were painted in the Emirates livery in one of Pakistan International Airlines' hangars, all in secrecy. As the now-retired Captain Mian shared with Arab News back in 2020, two days before the first commercial services, the crews had to operate five special VIP flights over Dubai. This task was not entirely without its edge, as the Captain revealed that:

"I was praying that nothing bad would happen. The first Airbus flight was around 11 o'clock, and Sheikh Mohammed (bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai) and other royal dignitaries were sitting on the aircraft. We flew over Dubai for 45 minutes, and we were escorted by Dubai air force fighter pilots."

The early years and the first Airbus A380 to Pakistan

Of the two aircraft that helped to get the carrier off the ground, the A300 remained in Emirates' fleet until November 1988, while the Boeing 737 was returned one year earlier. The latter remains the only Boeing 737 to have flown for Emirates. The initial fleet also featured two Boeing 727 trijets supplied by the royal family.

An Emirates Airbus A380 landing on a runway.
Photo: Kevin Hackert | Shutterstock

In its first year, Emirates carried 260,000 passengers, causing neighboring Gulf Air to take a 56% profit hit. Two years later, it took delivery of its first owned aircraft, namely an A310-300, directly from Airbus in Toulouse. By 1990, the airline had grown to serve 14 destinations throughout the Middle East, Asia, and Europe. Today, ch-aviation lists its network as having 144 destinations in 77 countries.

In 2018, Emirates operated the first-ever Airbus A380-operated flight to Pakistan, albeit this time to Islamabad International Airport (ISB). At the reception following the flight, the airline took the opportunity to honor its first-ever pilots. Alongside the aforementioned Captain Mian, Captain Ejaz Ul Haq, who was in the cockpit on the carrier's first flight to Mumbai, was also present at the ceremony.

When was your first flight with Emirates? Where did you go, and on what aircraft type? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments!

Sources: Arab News, ch-aviation, Flightradar24