and now-Emirates president Tim Clark. Current chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum has since inherited the role of CEO. During its first year, it carried about 260,000 passengers and 10,000 tons of freight. To highlight the airline's early success, Gulf Air, during Emirates' first year of operations, suffered a 56% drop in profits, and a loss the following year. By 1986, the airline had added new destinations such as Colombo, Dhaka, Amman and Cairo to its route network. In 1987 a second Boeing 727 was purchased from the Dubai Government and an A300 was temporarily replaced by a second example from Kuwait Airlines. On 3 July, Emirates received its first bought aircraft, an Airbus A310 (registration A6-EKA), and with two examples, launched daily non-stop services to London Gatwick on 6 July 1987. The airline in 1987 added Frankfurt via Istanbul, and Malé (Maldive). By the end of 1987, Emirates was serving 11 destinations. This was followed by an expansion into the Far East market in 1985, with flights to Bangkok, Manila and Singapore, and Hong Kong in 1991.During the first decade of operations, Emirates recorded strong growths averaging 30%