Introduction
This is an international airline company that is spreading to various countries at a very high pace. Currently, it has over 100 destinations. It is the major airline in the Middle East and the national airline for Dubai, Unites Arabs Emirates. It is a sub-subsidiary of Dubai Investment Company, through The Emirates Group. The company was incorporated in the year 1985 as an international flight company and made the first flight from Dubai-Karachi on 25 October 1985. It was incorporated with the assistance of the government of Dubai’s royal family but the intervention of the government was limited.
By the year 1987, the company had expanded its destinations to reach eleven destinations. It is one of the few start-ups that recorded a break-even in the first year of service (The Economist, 2005/6). The earlier airline that operated in the area was Gulf airline; the airline was affected by the Gulf war and Emirate airline enjoyed the benefit of all this. In the fiscal year that ended in March 2010, the company had employed a total of 36,652 employees all over the continent.
The performance of the company has been on a gradual increase; in the year 2009/ 2010, the passengers who used the online were 27.4 million, up from 22.7 million reported in 2008–09, the loaded cargo in the same period increased by 12.2% to 1,580,000 tons up from 2008–09: 1,408,000 tons. It is headquarters are in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The current key people are Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum (Chairman/CEO), Maurice Flanagan (Executive Vice-Chairman), and Tim Clark (President). The slogan of the company is “Fly Emirates. Keep Discovering” (Emirates airline, 2010). Various reasons have led to the well-improved performance but we will dwell on the benefit that it is positioning in terms of location has on its performance.
The Location of Emirates
The location that a company is in has either a positive or negative effect on the business. The more accessible a firm is the more the business it will attain and thus results in increased profits. In the airline industry, the company does not necessarily have to be operating its airport but the choice of the areas that are going to spread its business determines the success that it is going to get. The initial area that the company was incorporated was in Dubai and started its operation there. It was using Dubai International Airport (Flight International, 25–31 July 2006). Dubai is a world business destination and thus an investment to have an international airline there was a well-thought decision.
The airline positioned here means that it is going to target the international world and the local flights. This position has been argued also from the point that it was incorporated at a place that an international airline, Gulf Airline was performing poorly. This location was aimed at targeting the disappointed Gulf Airlines customers. This made the company break even in the first year. To expand its market base, the company started to diversify to other countries but each move was a calculated one to ensure that the location will be of favor to the company (Financial Times, 29 October 2005). Their first place to expand to was in Colombo, Dhaka, Amman, and Cairo.
These were routes that had seen an increased business with the United Arab Emirates (this was just two years after its first flights). In all the above, the company was using the international flights of these countries in the effort to have more customers. The four destinations were the bases that the company now had to use in the efforts of expanding the business. On 6 July 1987, in the effort of tapping the European market, it launched the company in London Gatwick.
This was followed by an improvement of the status at the plane. Two planes were operating in the area and had the business class, the royal class. This was responsive to the demands of the market in London. It was at the same time that it entered Singapore. The above destinations are the ones that the company initiated first. Some areas had potential and were well accessible all over the country. To get into the world’s largest trader, the United States, the company had to partner with the United States airways; to assist it to get access to the United States and engage in connection transport. This saw the company gets into the world access (The Sunday Times, 23 July 2006).
Observation/ conclusion
The location of the company is of great importance and a determinant of how successful a company can be. The location of Emirates in the various countries is proof of the above statement. With the calculated move on the location, the company has developed four major direct routes. It has also become the largest airline in the UAE scooping the sixth position in the world ranking.
Reference List
Emirates airline, (2010) Emirates. Web.
Financial Times, (2005) London, UK: UK Edition. (Financial Times online).
Flight International, (2006) Sutton, UK: Reed Business Information Ltd. (Flight International online).
The Economist, (2005/6) London, UK: The Economist Newspaper Ltd. (The Economist online).
The Sunday Times, (2006) London, UK: Times Newspapers Ltd. (The Sunday Times online).