emirates airlines interior emirates airlines interior Emirates (Arabic: طَيَران الإمارات DMG: Ṭayarān al-Imārāt) is an airline based at Dubai International Airport in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is the largest airline in the Middle East, operating over 2,500 flights per week,[1][2] from its hub at Terminal 3, to 122 cities in 72 countries across six continents.[3] The company also operates four of the world's ten longest non-stop commercial flights from Dubai to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, and Houston.[4][5][6] Emirates is a subsidiary of The Emirates Group, which has over 50,000 employees, and is wholly owned by the government of Dubai directly under the Investment Corporation of Dubai.[7] Cargo activities are undertaken by the Emirates Group's Emirates SkyCargo division.[8] During the mid-1980s, Gulf Air began to cut back its services to Dubai. As a result Emirates was conceived in March 1985 with backing from Dubai's royal family, whose Dubai Royal