The SAAF Forum

THE UNTOUCHABLE

text by
Clinton Barnard

In June this year, Emirates will record one of its most spectacular milestones yet at Durban's King Shaka International Airport (KSIA).
Few people may be aware of this fact, but Emirates breaks records every single day that it completes an arrival at KSIA. It breaks its own record for the highest number of actual arrivals by a single Foreign-Based Scheduled Passenger Operator (FBSPO) – a record first established on the second day following its maiden arrival at KSIA on May 1, 2010 and one which has never looked likely of coming under threat since.
Even fewer people would be aware that every week it flies to Durban it increases the gulf between itself and its closest competitor (itself no slouch in the commercial aviation world) – Qatar Airways – by two further arrivals.
Now in its sixteenth year of operation to KSIA, Persian Gulf-based Emirates remains the longest serving FBSPO at sunny Durban. During its tenure, it has witnessed the arrival and departure of six FBSPOs (Ethiopian Airlines, British Airways, Air Seychelles, Air Namibia, Air Mauritius and Proflight Zambia) and outlived them all.
As far as the Durban operation is concerned, Emirates operates on a level that far exceeds that of even its closest competitor. The result is a string of milestones achieved long before anyone else and many records that stand no chance of being bettered. Indeed, as far as Durban is concerned, it would be no exaggeration to state that only Emirates can hope to beat Emirates!
Neither does this carrier have to do anything particularly spectacular to maintain and indeed continue extending its unassailable lead – It just has to keep doing what it does best – fly.
Although Emirates admittedly enjoys a six year head start in Durban operations over Qatar Airways, the reality is that even if Emirates were to cease its Durban operation today, it would take Qatar Airways, flying at its current arrivals rate of five weekly and with no arrivals cancellations, almost 12 years to catch up!
Emirates was first FBSPO to achieve 1,000 actual scheduled passenger arrivals at KSIA in 2013 and every increment of 1,000 thereafter. However, COVID has played an instrumental role in delaying many milestones artificially: The 3,000th actual arrival was the last unaffected by this pandemic.
The 4,000th actual arrival, which would have taken place in February 2021 without the influence of COVID (assuming in all cases below, no cancellations or extra flights laid on) was, with COVID, instead delayed to July 2022.
Similarly, Emirates' latest milestone, its 5,000th actual Durban arrival, should have occurred in October 2023, but will instead now only be recorded in June 2025.
It is perhaps ironic that the very high arrivals frequency of Emirates, which is what has put it so far ahead of its closest competitor, is also the same Achilles Heel that has denied this carrier a staggering 580 days (arrivals) during the period March 23, 2020 (a few days shy of the first ban on South African international flights was initiated), to November 30, 2022, when it sustainably commenced its standard seven arrivals frequency to KSIA. Put another way, that is over 19 months worth of daily arrivals forever 'lost' by Emirates and this on the Durban rotation alone.
Emirates is not unlike the two other components of the Big Three at Durban that includes Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines, in that flight cancellations are a rarity. For example, in 2024 Emirates suffered only one flight cancellation on its Durban bound rotation and this due to localised flooding at Dubai International Airport. This alone marred what would otherwise have been a flawless 366 leap year actual arrivals total and noticeably more than the 246 actual arrivals of the runner up, Qatar Airways.
With the Boeing 777X on the now not too distant horizon, there is little reason why Emirates shouldn't keenly anticipate its 10,000th Durban arrival and every increment of 1,000 in between.
Long live the King!

ENDS