The airline currently has 4,800 pilots. It has lost single-digit pilots to its competitors in Saudi Arabia, where brand new full service carrier Riyadh Air began operations last month. | Photo credit: AMR ABDALLAH DALSH
Dubai-based Emirates will recruit pilots in “triple digits” in the financial year starting April 2026 and expand its flight training infrastructure by adding more simulators, according to a senior airline official.
“Yes, there is a shortage in the industry. There is and will be a high demand for pilots,” said Captain Bader Al Marzooqi, senior vice president of flight training at Emirates, when asked about the chronic shortage of pilots worldwide.
However, he explained that Emirates recruitment teams anticipate future requirements six months in advance.
The airline aims to hire 1,500 pilots in 2025 and 2026, with 550 planned for 2025. Between 2022 and 2025, the airline hired 2,000 pilots
“Our recruitment team has been successful in recruiting pilots, and six months before the end of the financial year, we have already met our recruitment target by March. In addition, we have a short-listed group of pilots ready for the next financial year, during which we plan to offer jobs in three figures,” Marzooqi said.
The airline currently has 4,800 pilots. It has lost single-digit pilots to its competitors in Saudi Arabia, where brand new full service carrier Riyadh Air began operations last month.
He was speaking to reporters while visiting the new flight crew training center in Dubai, which was built with an investment of $135 million and covers an area of 63,318 square feet.
The hiring plans are in line with the airline’s growing order of aircraft. At the Dubai Airshow, which opened on September 17, the airline ordered 65 additional Boeing 777X aircraft and 8 Airbus A350-900s to expand its fleet to 269 aircraft.
The airline will continue to expand its training infrastructure. Its existing 13 simulators include six Boeing 777-300ERs, two Airbus A350s and five A380 units. To this fleet, Emirates will add another Boeing 777 simulator, one more A350 simulator and its first Boeing 777-9 simulator, which is expected to enter service in mid-2026, ahead of the introduction of the first aircraft of the type.
Published – 21 Nov 2025 21:08 IST
