Dubai-based Emirates Group, owner of the world’s largest long-haul airline prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, reported a narrower half-year loss as travel restrictions eased around the world and demand picked up.
“Across the group, we saw operations and demand pick up as countries started to ease travel restrictions,” chairman and chief executive officer Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said. “This momentum accelerated over the summer and continues to grow steadily into the winter season and beyond.”
The company reported a net loss of AED5.7 billion ($1.6bn), compared with a AED14.1bn ($3.9bn) loss last year, while revenue for the six-month period rose 81 percent to AED24.7bn ($6.7bn). Losses at its airline business narrowed to AED5.8bn ($1.6bn).
International travel is starting to pick up again, with the US opening up flights from Europe, along with countries including India, Brazil and China. Emirates generated positive weekly cash flow for the first time since the pandemic started, president Sir Tim Clark told Airline Ratings in an interview published November 7. He is aiming to fully restore its route network by June or July 2022.
Emirates is being helped by higher yields on both passenger and cargo businesses, Clark said. He said added passenger flights are providing more space to fill with belly freight.
Emirates Group has reported significantly improved performance in its half-year results for 2021-22, with an 81% lift in revenue as travel restrictions continue to ease worldwide. https://t.co/7ScwKQfODt (1/2) pic.twitter.com/KNNJMXoN32
— Emirates Airline (@emirates) November 10, 2021
The state-owned company received a capital injection of $681 million in the first half from its owner, the government of Dubai. It had received $3.1bn in support from the government in the financial year ended March.
“While there’s still some way to go before we restore our operations to pre-pandemic levels and return to profitability, we are well on the recovery path with healthy revenue and a solid cash balance at the end of our first half of 2021-22,” Sheikh Ahmed said.
The Emirates Group’s employee base, compared to March 31, 2021, dropped marginally by 2% to an overall count of 73,571 on September 30, 2021.
During the first six months of 2021-22, Emirates took delivery of two new A380s and retired two older aircraft from its fleet as part of its long-standing strategy to improve overall efficiency, minimise its emissions footprint, and provide high quality customer experiences.
Emirates carried 6.1 million passengers between April 1 and September 30, 2021, up 319 percent from the same period last year.
The volume of cargo uplifted at 1.1 million tons has increased by 39 percent, which brings the business back to 90 percent of pre-pandemic (2019) levels by volume handled.
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