Emirates’ aircraft flew around the world more than 18,000 times in 2013, underlining its position as a global connector of people and places.

Figures show the airline’s fleet travelled more than 751 million kilometres throughout the year.

Taking the earth’s circumference at the equator as 40,075 kilometres, this translates into the equivalent of 18,753 circumnavigations.

A total of 164,635 flights were conducted, carrying over 43 million passengers, who enjoyed the finest dining in the skies and the very best in-flight entertainment.

Emirates Flight Catering loaded nearly 46 million meals aboard Emirates’ flights departing Dubai.

A particularly memorable day for the catering team was December 20th 2013 when a staggering 157,308 meals were produced, breaking their previous record of 147,722 on March 1st 2013.

“Last year was another impressive year for the airline.

“We continue to raise the bar in the industry with investment, innovation and the expansion of our services globally, bringing unrivalled value for money to the millions who travel with us,” said Tim Clark, president, Emirates Airline.

Throughout the year, the airline has received 24 new aircraft – a combination of Airbus A380s, Boeing 777s and 777 freighters.

Nine new passenger routes have been launched; Warsaw, Algiers, Tokyo Haneda, Stockholm, Clark, Milan-New York, Conakry, Sialkot and Kabul.

Hanoi, Chicago, Kano in Nigeria and Quito in Ecuador have been launched as cargo only destinations. 

The first major milestone of 2013 was January’s opening of Concourse A, the world’s first purpose built A380 concourse.

The giant building with 20 A380 gates is over 800m long and houses the largest airline lounges in the world.

In February, Emirates went from big to fast, becoming a Global Partner of Formula 1 in a five year deal starting with the 2013 season.

April saw the landmark commercial deal with Qantas come to life.

The new partnership brings the total combined number of weekly flights from Dubai to Australia to 98.

In May, The Emirates Group, which includes dnata, announced its 25th consecutive year of profit, despite the continuing tough international business environment

August brought the fifth anniversary of Emirates’ A380 operations.

At the five year mark, its A380 fleet had carried more than 18 million passengers on over 45,000 flights. Earlier this month, the double decker, offering more than 400 hours of Hollywood movies, was deployed to Los Angeles, creating the world’s longest A380 service in operation at 16 hours and 20 minutes. 

“We were bold ordering this double-decker when we did, and in the numbers that we did, but my goodness, it has proved to be a gamble worth taking,” said Clark.

“Our customers love it, and it is one of the most efficient aircraft to operate today in terms of fuel burn per passenger.