Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum: Four Decades at the Head of Emirates

The Day Emirates Took Off in 1985

Flight EK600 left Dubai for Karachi at about 11:45 am on October 25, 1985. Emirates had two aircraft, both leased from Pakistan International Airlines, and start-up capital of $10 million. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum was its chairman from that first year, and he still leads it. In the year to March 31, 2026, the Emirates Group made a profit before tax of AED 24.4 billion (US$6.6 billion) on revenue of AED 150.5 billion, and it employed 130,919 people across the airline and dnata.

His formal title is Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group. The group covers Emirates airline and dnata, the airport services and travel company. He also heads Dubai’s civil aviation authority, chairs Dubai Airports and flydubai, and chairs Emirates NBD and Dubai Holding.

From the University of Denver to Dubai’s Aviation Department

Sheikh Ahmed was born in 1958. His father, Sheikh Saeed bin Maktoum, ruled Dubai between 1912 and 1958, apart from one short break, which makes Sheikh Ahmed an uncle of the current ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. He studied in the United States and graduated from the University of Denver with a bachelor’s degree in political science.

In 1985 he was appointed president of the Dubai Department of Civil Aviation, and that same year Dubai launched its own airline. The idea came from Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who asked Maurice Flanagan, then managing director of dnata, to build it. Sheikh Ahmed became the chairman, while Flanagan ran the business side and later became vice chairman and group president.

Emirates was set up with a small budget and borrowed planes. One aircraft flew to Karachi on the first day and a second flew to Mumbai, and the first flight carried 11 crew members, four of them women. The flight number used that day, EK600, is still in service.

Sheikh Ahmed’s Career Next to Emirates’ Milestones

We built this table from the official biographies on the Dubai Airports and Dubai Holding sites and from the Emirates Group’s results releases. The right-hand column records what was published at the time.

The Boards and Titles He Holds in Dubai

Sheikh Ahmed’s influence goes well past one airline. The Dubai Airports biography lists more than 20 current positions. We grouped them by sector below. For anyone studying Emirates, the list shows that one person chairs the airline, its home airport, the local regulator and a sister carrier.

Emirates is owned by the Investment Corporation of Dubai, the emirate’s state investment fund, and Sheikh Ahmed sits on that board too. Each year the group pays a dividend to its owner. It paid AED 6.0 billion for 2024-25 and AED 3.5 billion for 2025-26. By our arithmetic those payments equal about 29% and about 17% of each year’s profit after tax.

Steering Emirates Through the 2020-21 Loss

The pandemic produced the worst year in the group’s history. For the year to March 31, 2021, the Emirates Group lost AED 22.1 billion (US$6.0 billion) as revenue fell 66% to AED 35.6 billion, and Emirates carried 6.6 million passengers, 88% fewer than the year before. It was the group’s first annual loss in more than 30 years.

The response had two parts. The Government of Dubai put AED 11.3 billion (US$3.1 billion) of new equity into Emirates. The group also cut its workforce by 31%, to 75,145 people. At the time, Sheikh Ahmed said, “No one knows when the pandemic will be over, but we know recovery will be patchy.” Group cash stood at AED 19.8 billion at the end of that year.

The job cuts were the hardest part of the period for staff and their families, but five years later the headcount is far above its pandemic low. The group employed 130,919 people in March 2026, about 74% more than in March 2021.

Two Record Years in a Row for the Emirates Group

The group set a profit record in 2024-25 and beat it in 2025-26, even though the final month of that year was disrupted. The table sets the three years side by side. We worked out the change columns ourselves.

Profit after tax grew more slowly than profit before tax in 2025-26 because the UAE corporate tax rate on the group rose from 9% to 15%. Per employee, the group earned about AED 186,000 of pre-tax profit in 2025-26, by our calculation. Travellers comparing Emirates’ newer cabins can read our look at the airline’s A350 premium economy service to Durban.

The half-year figures had already pointed to a record. In the six months to September 30, 2025, the group earned AED 12.2 billion before tax, up 17%, on revenue of AED 75.4 billion. Emirates carried 27.8 million passengers in that half and dnata handled 450,903 aircraft turns.

Emirates Group Figures Per Employee, Aircraft and Passenger

Headline profit tells only part of the story. We divided the 2025-26 results by the size of the business to see how much each unit of the group produces. These are our own calculations from the published totals, and they use year-end headcount and fleet figures, so they are close approximations.

Set against the airline’s start, the change is large. Emirates began with two leased planes and $10 million of capital in 1985. Forty-one years later it flies 277 aircraft and the group holds about US$16.2 billion in cash. The revenue per passenger figure includes freight, which the airline carries alongside passengers, so it overstates what an average ticket costs.

How Group Profit Splits Between the Airline and Ground Services

The airline earns most of the money, but dnata has grown faster recently. In 2025-26 Emirates airline made AED 22.8 billion of pre-tax profit on AED 130.9 billion of revenue, a 17.4% margin. dnata, which handles ground services, cargo, catering and travel, made AED 1.6 billion on record revenue of AED 23.6 billion. dnata’s revenue rose 12% in the year, against 2% for the airline.

Emirates’ network covered 152 cities in 80 countries, and it added Da Nang, Hangzhou, Siem Reap and Shenzhen during the year. The fleet averaged 10.8 years of age. Business travellers who land in Dubai for a few days often need a desk near the airport, and our list of coworking office spaces in Dubai covers that.

Fleet Orders Signed Under His Chairmanship

Aircraft orders are the largest spending decisions Emirates makes, and their effects run for decades. At the Dubai Airshow in November 2025, Emirates ordered 65 more Boeing 777-9 aircraft, valued at US$38 billion at list prices. The deal included 130 GE9X engines, and Emirates can switch some of the order to the 777-10 or 777-8. Deliveries are planned to begin in the second quarter of 2027 and run until 2038.

The list price works out to about US$585 million per aircraft, though airlines rarely pay list. The order matters for Dubai as a whole, because Sheikh Ahmed chairs both the airline that will fly these planes and the airport company that must handle the passengers. Travellers stuck on long layovers elsewhere may like our guide to US airports with sleeping pods.

The Executives Around Him and the Tim Clark Question

Sir Tim Clark is president of Emirates airline and runs its daily operations. He is 76. In July 2026 he said, “It’s not time to talk about retirement.” In 2024 Emirates promoted two Emirati executives to deputy president: Adel Al Redha, the chief operating officer, and Adnan Kazim, the chief commercial officer. No successor to Clark has been named.

The structure is unusual for a large airline: Sheikh Ahmed holds the chairman and chief executive titles for the whole group, and the president runs the airline under him. The arrangement has stayed in place through the pandemic and both record years.

Honours, Universities and Charitable Patronage

Sheikh Ahmed has received honours from several countries and from the aviation industry. The Royal Aeronautical Society made him a fellow in 1994. City University London gave him an honorary Doctor of Science in 2013. France has named him a Commandeur of the Légion d’honneur, and Germany has given him the Verfassungsportugaleser. In January 2019 he received the Mohammed bin Rashid Honorary Sash.

Much of his non-business work is in education. He is chancellor of two universities in Dubai and chairs the trustees of a third. He also chairs the Emirates Literature Foundation, which runs Dubai’s annual literature festival, and he is patron of many charitable bodies.

Emirates After the February 2026 Gulf Disruption

On February 28, 2026, military activity in the Gulf severely disrupted commercial flying, including in the UAE. The disruption hit the last month of the 2025-26 financial year. Emirates and dnata have since restored most operations at Dubai International, but passenger capacity has stayed below its earlier level, while cargo has ramped up. The group says the military activity is now paused under a ceasefire.

In his comments on the results, Sheikh Ahmed pointed to the group’s past recoveries from earlier crises and disruptions. The group holds AED 59.6 billion in cash, three times what it had at the end of the pandemic year. The first 777-9 deliveries are due in 2027. Our profiles of Al-Futtaim’s Omar Al Futtaim and LuLu’s Yusuff Ali M.A. cover two other business leaders shaping the Gulf economy.

Questions Readers Ask About Emirates’ Chairman

Is Sheikh Ahmed the Chief Executive of Emirates?

Yes. His title is Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group, which covers both the airline and dnata. Sir Tim Clark, the airline’s president, manages its day-to-day running and reports into that structure.

Who Owns Emirates Airline?

The Investment Corporation of Dubai, the government’s investment arm, owns the Emirates Group and receives its dividends. Sheikh Ahmed is a member of its board.

Does Sheikh Ahmed Also Chair Dubai’s Low-Cost Airline?

Yes. He has chaired flydubai since it was set up in 2008. The two airlines are separate companies with separate management teams that both use Dubai as their home base.

Where Did Sheikh Ahmed Study?

He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science at the University of Denver in the United States. City University London later awarded him an honorary Doctor of Science through its business school.

Annual Results, Biographies and Releases Used Here

• Emirates: Emirates Group achieves record profit of AED 24.4 bn in 2025-26
• Emirates: Emirates Group achieves record profit of AED 22.7 bn in 2024-25
• Emirates: Emirates Group announces 2020-21 results
• Dubai Airports: HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum biography
• Dubai Holding: HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman
• Gulf States Newsletter: Profile of Dubai’s Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed (2014)
• Emirates: Half-year results 2025-26 highlights (fact sheet)
• The National: How Emirates took flight for the first time
• All India Radio News: Emirates places US$38 billion Boeing order at Dubai Airshow 2025
• Skift: Emirates’ Sir Tim Clark on retirement