Emirates Airline has announced it will hire up to 2,000 new crew members during 2010, as the United Arab Emirates’ flag-carrier continues to expand.

Updating the industry on its progress at ITB Berlin, the airline confirmed it had increased the number of aircraft in its fleet to 145 over the past year, with adding Durban and Luanda to its list of destination.

The airline will begin to offer departures to Tokyo, Amsterdam, Prague, Madrid and Dakar throughout 2010.

Emirates Airline president, Tim Clark, said: “We are looking forward to supporting ITB again this year and are pleased to be able to report so many new developments.

“These continue to be testing times, making our fresh initiatives and ongoing growth even more noteworthy.”

Following these developments, the Dubai-based carrier has hired around 660 cabin crew and more than 60 pilots since March 2009; with a further 2000 cabin crew expected to be hired this year.

Emirates Group

The company’s resort portfolio has also expanded.

In October, Emirates unveiled the much-awaited conservation-based project, the Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa, near Sydney. It has since become the first hotel in the world to achieve carbon neutral certification under an internationally recognised scheme.

In November, half year profits were announced of AED752 million ($205 million), climbing 165 per cent over the previous year - and on the back of an 18 per cent increase in passengers carried.

Just recently, Emirates again demonstrated its passion for sports by announcing a massive AED300 million ($82 million) shirt sponsorship deal with Italian football giants, AC Milan.

Mr Clark added: “People often ask how we do it - how we keep making these huge commitments to our customers, to sports and to the travel and tourism industry in general? Well, the answer is: we stay focused, we invest in our brand, we closely watch our costs and with the extremely hard work of more than 40,000 staff, we remain committed to our carefully planned long-term expansion.”