2024-05-13 19:37:54
The Emirates group, based in Dubai and owner of the Middle East’s largest airline, announced on Monday a record annual net profit of $5.1 billion (AFP / Damien MEYER)
Dubai-based Emirates Group, owner of the Middle East’s largest airline, on Monday announced a record annual net profit of $5.1 billion, up 71% from a year earlier.
The flagship of the Gulf emirate has “set the bar very high by achieving a new record performance” for the fiscal year 2023-2024 that ends at the end of March, welcomed CEO Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum in a press release, highlighting “the strong the demand for air transport and travel-related services around the world.”
The group had already had a record profit last year, of 3 billion dollars, following two years of heavy losses due to the Covid-19 crisis.
Amid the pandemic, Emirates had posted record annual losses of $5.5 billion in 2020-2021, narrowing to $1.1 billion the following financial year. These losses were erased by the profits accumulated over the past two years, the press release emphasized.
The airline alone has brought in $4.7 billion in profit this year, a 63% increase from the previous year. The group also owns Dnata, an airport services company in Dubai, whose profits have quadrupled to $400 million.
Annual profit and loss for the Emirates group in billions of US dollars (AFP / Omar KAMAL)
The group’s financial situation “places us today in a solid position” and “enables us to invest to offer even better products and services and greater added value”, added the boss.
Investments of $2.4 billion were made in 2023-2024 in “new aircraft, facilities, equipment, businesses and cutting-edge technologies to support growth plans,” according to the release.
Emirates is due to receive 10 new Airbus A350 aircraft in 2024-2025, but the company is facing delivery delays from US aircraft manufacturer Boeing, from which it has ordered a total of 205 777X aircraft.
– “Volatile Environments” –
The achievement of the largest airline in the Middle East comes in a regional context characterized by more than seven months of war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
Nevertheless, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said he expected “customer demand for air transport and travel to remain strong in the coming months”, despite risks related in particular to “volatile environments caused by socio-economic changes”.
To support the growth of its air transport, Dubai announced the construction of a new passenger terminal at Al-Maktoum Airport, worth more than 34.8 billion dollars (AFP / Giuseppe CACACE)
To support the growth of its air transport, Dubai announced the construction of a new passenger terminal at Al-Maktoum Airport, costing more than $34.8 billion.
Located around fifty km from the center of Dubai, this airport has received a small share of traffic since 2010, but its capacity is expected to grow to 260 million passengers per year.
It must take over from Dubai International Airport (DXB), whose maximum capacity is 120 million passengers and whose location in the center of the emirate prevents any expansion.
According to Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, who is also the chairman of the Dubai Aviation City Corporation, the first phase of the project will be completed within 10 years, and will “accommodate 150 million passengers per year”.
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