Emirates’ expansion drive: Who can apply for 5,000 pilot vacancies?

Dubai: Dubai’s flagship carrier, Emirates, plans to recruit 5,000 pilots in eight years, the airline’s Co-Deputy President and Chief Operating Officer Adel Ahmed Al Redha, told Gulf News, as the aviation giant accelerates its expansion plans to meet surging travel demand.

Al Redha revealed details about the ambitious hiring target during the sixth graduation ceremony of Emirates’ cadet pilot programme at the Emirates Flight Training Academy (EFTA) on Tuesday.

Recent industry forecasts have underscored the scale of the challenge facing the region’s aviation sector, with Middle Eastern carriers projected to require an additional 10,300 pilots by 2030 to support their expansion plans.

Emirates has commitments for roughly 375 future widebody aircraft, split between Boeing 777X/777F/787 and Airbus A350-900, after topping up both its 777X and A350 orders at Dubai Airshow last month. This intensifies the pressure to recruit qualified pilots in the coming months and years.

Multi-channel approach

Addressing concerns about sourcing so many pilots, Al Redha said the complexity of the task but expressed confidence in the airline's multi-channel recruitment approach.

"It is not possible for one academy school to support all that demand," Al Redha said. "So, you will have multiple sources funding that number, whether from an academy, whether it is from direct entry, or from international."

The airline’s strategy involves casting a wide net across global talent pools, combining graduates of its own flight training academy with experienced pilots recruited directly from other carriers and international candidates who have completed their training elsewhere.

The academy has already produced more than 300 pilots currently flying for Emirates, representing a steady pipeline of talent explicitly trained for the airline's operations. "So it is providing us a source of cadet, young pilots to train them from the beginning within the mindset of the airline,” he said.

The 5,000-pilot target forms part of a broader talent acquisition strategy announced by the Emirates Group in July 2025, which aims to onboard 17,300 people across 350 roles this financial year alone.

Region faces critical pilot shortage

The recruitment push comes as Airbus forecasts the Middle East will require more than 60,000 pilots by 2034 to support regional aviation growth, according to recent reports.

"You see today with air transport and air travel, there is really good demand," Al Redha said. "We are seeing the demand increasing day by day. There will be a need for more pilots."

The Emirates Group has hosted more than 2,100 recruitment events in 150 cities globally, receiving 3.7 million applications in the last financial year. Since 2022, the Group has onboarded more than 41,000 professionals, bringing its workforce to 121,000.

New graduates earn their wings

Sebastian Piroddi-Botha, 21, one of this year's graduates, praised the quality of instruction at the academy.

"All the instructors, everyone here, I'd say they're actually the best in the world," he said. "They built us into who we are. The instructors themselves instil that kind of confidence into us so that we can walk away from here, look at an aircraft and say, 'I know what I'm going to do.'"

Piroddi-Botha, who will complete his training in January, plans to interview with Emirates immediately afterwards.

Meanwhile, Giada Macario, 22, traced her aviation ambitions to her first flight from Milan to New York at age five.

"My father was really joking and said, 'Do you think you want to become a pilot?' And my mother and I started laughing," she recalled. Her parents are glassmakers with no aviation background, making her journey particularly remarkable.

Macario joined the Italian Air Force at 14 to gain flight experience before moving to Dubai for the Emirates programme.

"Thanks to the amount of dedication and passion that instructors gave us, I can really say we are ready to take this," she said of the industry's high demand. "It's kind of an opportunity to show the world what this academy can do."

Emirates employees enjoy several perks. The group offers Dubai-based employees profit-sharing eligibility, comprehensive medical and life insurance, travel benefits, including annual leave tickets for family and friends, and membership cards that provide discounts at hundreds of outlets.