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There are airline leaders, airport leaders and destination leaders. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum has spent much of his career operating across all three categories at once. As chairman and chief executive of Emirates Airline and Group, chairman of Dubai Airports and chairman of flydubai, he sits at the junction where Dubai’s aviation capacity, network reach and visitor economy meet.
That position was not created overnight. Sheikh Ahmed began his aviation career in 1985, the year Emirates launched. The assignment was audacious: build an international airline for a city that wanted to become a global trading and tourism hub, but did not yet possess the scale, connectivity or visitor infrastructure associated with one. Emirates grew by making Dubai the connecting point, using widebody aircraft, long-haul routes and a service proposition that promoted the city every time the airline entered a new market.
That position was not created overnight. Sheikh Ahmed began his aviation career in 1985, the year Emirates launched. The assignment was audacious: build an international airline for a city that wanted to become a global trading and tourism hub, but did not yet possess the scale, connectivity or visitor infrastructure associated with one. Emirates grew by making Dubai the connecting point, using widebody aircraft, long-haul routes and a service proposition that promoted the city every time the airline entered a new market.