travel

Emirates Carries 55.6m Passengers in 2025

Emirates consolidated its position in 2025 as the world’s largest international airline after carrying 55.6 million passengers across nearly 180,580 flights, covering distances equivalent to circling the Earth more than 29,000 times, and placing orders for 73 new aircraft.

In a statement issued today, the airliner said that 2025, during which it celebrated 40 years since the launch of its operations in October, was marked by a clear vision for shaping the future of travel through sustained excellence.

The airline identified ten milestones that defined its year, starting with the entry into service of its first Airbus A350 aircraft in early January. The A350 network expanded rapidly to include 18 cities, currently served by 16 aircraft.

Emirates continued its expansion in Asia in 2025 with the launch of daily non-stop flights to Shenzhen and Hangzhou in mainland China, in addition to operating services to Da Nang in Vietnam and Siem Reap in Cambodia via Bangkok.

The airline also continued introducing new Airbus A350 aircraft and refurbished Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 aircraft, all featuring its award-winning Premium Economy cabin. The cabin now serves nearly 70 cities across more than 100 aircraft, representing around 40 percent of Emirates’ passenger fleet.

During the Dubai Airshow in November, Emirates announced the rollout of Starlink satellite internet connectivity across 232 aircraft, starting with Boeing 777s. Emirates will become the world’s first airline to operate Airbus A380 aircraft equipped with this technology in early 2026.

By the end of next year, more than 123 aircraft will offer complimentary ultra-fast connectivity for streaming, entertainment, work and browsing across all travel classes.

In 2025, Emirates announced nine major sports sponsorship agreements, including new deals and renewals. These included a seven-year agreement with FC Bayern Munich, making Emirates a Platinum Partner of one of the world’s leading football clubs, an extension of its partnership with World Rugby through 2035, and a new partnership with the European Professional Club Rugby to support top club rugby competitions across Europe, connecting the airline with more than 70 million rugby fans worldwide.

Other agreements included sponsorship of Real Madrid Basketball, renewal of its 18-year partnership with AC Milan, extensions with Olympique Lyonnais and the ATP Tour through 2030, and continued support for UAE Team Emirates XRG.

Emirates also launched Emirates Courier Express, which quickly expanded to serve 10 international markets, with plans for further expansion in 2026, achieving an average delivery time of no more than three days.

Emirates Skywards marked its silver jubilee in 2025. The award-winning programme now has 37 million members across 190 countries worldwide.

Over the past 20 years, Skywards has distributed nearly 400 billion reward miles through more than 100 partners, covering 1,400 flight destinations and 30,000 hotels. Members currently redeem more than 800 flight rewards daily, with one upgrade processed every minute, while the programme attracts around 78,000 new members each week.

In 2025, Emirates’ Aircrafted KIDS initiative distributed more than 3,700 handcrafted backpacks to underprivileged children in eight countries across Africa, West Asia and the Middle East, in cooperation with more than 12 non-governmental organisations supporting education.

The initiative included the distribution of more than 1,300 backpacks in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia; 700 backpacks in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan; and more than 1,600 backpacks in Egypt and Jordan. Each backpack contained essential school supplies and locally sourced books, with plans to expand the initiative to additional countries in 2026.

Emirates reinforced its leadership in accessible travel after becoming the world’s first airline to receive official certification as an Autism Certified Airline, following the training of more than 30,000 cabin crew and ground staff to support passengers with autism.

The airline also launched an Accessible and Inclusive Travel Hub on its website, offering user-friendly navigation tools, digital sensory guides and organised support based on disability type or journey stage.

Emirates expanded its pre-travel rehearsal programmes in 17 cities worldwide, enabling children with autism to simulate the airport experience before travel, alongside the introduction of new sensory products and calming toys onboard to support neurodiverse passengers.

Service enhancements introduced in 2025 included a safety-approved hooded mattress in Business Class to reduce the need for movement during flights for passengers with severe mobility impairments, in addition to offering more than 600 captioned films and 200 audio-described films on its inflight entertainment system to support passengers with visual and hearing impairments.

Emirates concluded 2025 by winning 25 prestigious awards, including Best Airline in the World for the eighth consecutive year at the ULTRAs, Best International Airline and Best International First Class at the Forbes Travel Guide Awards 2025, Best Long-Haul Airline by The Telegraph, and Best Airline Worldwide for the twelfth consecutive year at the Business Traveller Middle East Awards.

WAM

travel

Saudia resumes flights to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Amman

Saudia has announced a partial resumption of operations to and from Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Amman starting Saturday, 11 April 2026, restoring selected daily services across key regional routes. Passengers are advised to check flight status before travelling as further updates will be issued through official channels.

Daily exceptional flight schedule

The airline will operate the following daily flights:
• Jeddah – Dubai (DXB): SV588
• Jeddah – Amman (AMM): SV631
• Jeddah – Abu Dhabi (AUH): SV570

Return services include:

• Dubai – Jeddah: SV589
• Amman – Jeddah: SV632
• Abu Dhabi – Jeddah: SV571

Passenger advisory

Passengers are advised to check flight status before heading to the airport. Saudia said further updates will be issued through its official channels as operations continue to normalise.

travel

Emirates extends suspension of Dubai flights amid airspace closures

Emirates has temporarily suspended all flights to and from Dubai until 15:00 UAE time on Tuesday, March 3, due to multiple regional airspace closures.

The airline said the situation is dynamic and continuously monitored, urging passengers to check emirates.com

Options for affected passengers

Rebook flights: Passengers can rebook to the same destination on or before 20 March. Those who booked via travel agents should contact them directly; direct bookings can be managed at Emirates Support

Request a refund: Refunds for direct bookings can be requested via Emirates Refund Form

Travel agent bookings should be handled through the agent.

Passengers are advised to ensure contact details are updated via Manage Booking to receive real-time notifications.

All city check-in points across Dubai are temporarily closed until further notice.

Emirates said it is actively monitoring the situation and coordinating with relevant authorities. The airline apologised for the inconvenience and reaffirmed that the safety and security of passengers and crew remain its top priority.

travel

Saudi business visa rejections rise as scrutiny tightens

Riyadh is tightening scrutiny of business visas used mainly by UAE-based professionals travelling into Saudi Arabia, disrupting a decades-long practice that has let companies run projects in the kingdom without staff relocation.

There are no official figures on rejections, but immigration advisers and executives say they have seen more applications returned or refused in recent weeks, particularly for technical specialists and frequent visitors.

The “fly-in fly-out model”, as it is occasionally called, typically involves the misuse of a visa meant as a short-term permit for meetings and relationship-building, not revenue-generating work. Specialists say such misapplication has triggered the clampdown.

Abeer Husseini, a partner at global immigration law practice Fragomen, told AGBI there has been “scaled” misuse of business visas that are not intended for productive work.

“Based on our recent experience, we are seeing a higher possibility for business visa applications to be returned in certain scenarios,” Husseini said.

Abdulrahman Alfahad, a client relationship manager at Sovereign PPG Corporate Services in Saudi Arabia, said companies have relied on repeated business visits for individuals carrying out day-to-day operational roles, “which goes beyond the intended scope of a business visit visa”.

“Authorities are paying closer attention to travel frequency, length of stay and the nature of activities undertaken, particularly where patterns resemble full-time employment,” Alfahad said.

He said the impact is being felt mostly by consulting, professional services and project-based sectors, as well as regional headquarters structures where staff frequently travel in and out of the kingdom.

More than 10 UAE-based professionals at companies across banking, law and management consulting told AGBI their business trips to Saudi Arabia have been cancelled or delayed in recent months, though previously they had been entering and leaving the country nearly every week.

Immigration experts said the stricter outcomes reflect Saudi Arabia’s broader drive to support labour-market policies and a shift toward international standards.

“Saudi is clearly moving towards international best practice by drawing a firmer distinction between permissible business activities and work that requires employment authorisation,” Alfahad said.

Saudi Arabia has been pushing companies to build onshore capacity under Vision 2030 and meet Saudisation requirements – rules that require companies to employ a set proportion of nationals.

In 2024, it required businesses to base their regional headquarters in Saudi Arabia to qualify for government contracts.

Many multinationals that have long run operations out of Dubai have moved to meet Riyadh’s requirements, drawn by the scale of business in Saudi Arabia, which has the Gulf’s largest population.

But an HR executive, who declined to be identified, told AGBI that while companies have set up headquarters in Saudi Arabia, staffing is kept to a minimum – both to limit Saudisation quotas, which increase with each expatriate hire, and because employees are unwilling to relocate.

“Misuse of business visas can distort workforce reporting, and stricter enforcement supports more accurate Saudisation compliance and localisation objectives,” Alfahad said.

Ahmed Hassounah, managing director at Job Borsa, a Saudi recruitment services company that helps businesses comply with localisation requirements, said the goal is enforcement, not disruption for businesses already operating in Saudi Arabia.

“What the government is really focused on is ensuring that citizens and employees are trained and actively participating in the market,” Hassounah said.

AGBI