News
Emirates Group more than halves loss from increasing passenger demand and strong cargo business
November 11th 2021
Emirates Group has been described as “well on the way to recovery” after it recorded an 81% boost in interim revenue and reported a reduced net loss of US$1.6 billion. Read More » Eased travel restrictions and improved demand meant the loss was less than half the US$3.8 billion posted in the same period last year as revenues hit US$6.7 billion. Emirates Airline reported a loss of US$1.6 billion after revenue shot up 86%, to US$5.9 billion. Logistics arm, dnata, recorded a small profit of US$23 million on a 55% increase in revenue. “As we began our 2021-22 financial year, COVID-19 vaccination programmes were being rolled out at unprecedented scale around the world,’ said Emirates chief executive, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum. “Across the Group, we saw operations and demand pick up as countries started to ease travel restrictions. This momentum accelerated over the summer and continues to grow steadily into the winter season and beyond.” The Emirates chief said the group’s cargo transport and handling businesses continued to perform strongly, “providing the bedrock upon which we were able to quickly reinstate passenger services”. “While there is 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,” he said. The improvement in demand resulted in the airline operating passenger and cargo services to 139 airports by September 30, utilising its entire 777 fleet and 37 A380s. It carried 6.1 million passengers in the half year, up 319% from the same months last year. The volume of cargo uplifted was 1.1 million tonnes, an increase of 39%, which brought the business back to 90% of pre-pandemic (2019) levels by volume handled.
