Emirates Group hiring of 11,000 shows growth ambitions of Gulf carrier

Emirates Group plans to add 11,000 staff to businesses spanning the world’s No. 1 international airline to groundhandling, underscoring the company’s growth ambitions as it draws fire from carriers feeling squeezed out of the market.

The additions will swell the workforce by 6 percent by March 2016, with half of the new recruits joining the main airline arm as cabin crew, Dubaibased Emirates said in a statement today. The company employs 75,000 people now.

Emirates has turned itself into the leading global airline over three decades, leveraging a position at the crossroads of global flightpaths to build the world’s largest fleet of Airbus Group NV A380 and Boeing Co. 777 wide-body jets. The carrier’s reach has redrawn the competitive map, with rivals from Deutsche Lufthansa AG to American Airlines Group Inc. alleging unfair dominance, a claim the Gulf company has rebuffed.

“Our brand, our financial success and stability, and our growth, makes Emirates Group an attractive employer,” Abdulaziz Al Ali, the company’s executive vice president for human resources, said in the statement.

The airline will take delivery of more than 20 new aircraft this year, and is expanding its route network, requiring the addition of more personnel. Emirates has ordered 140 double- decker A380s in total, and already operates more than 50 of the world’s largest passenger planes. (Bloomberg)