Emirates sees 351% rise in profit
Emirates saw its profits jump 351% to US$925m for the first six months of this year compared with the same period of 2009.
The airline said passenger numbers has risen to 15.5m and load factors had reached 81.2%, the highest ever for a six-month period.
Premium class load factors had also risen 2.6%, which reflected ‘an encouraging change in the global economic outlook’, according to the airline.
Chairman and chief executive Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum said: “The results for the first half of the 2010-11 financial year are incredibly robust, and reflect Emirates’ success in growing customer demand, supported by investment in new aircraft, products and customer service.
"We continue to invest our profits in growing the business and our healthy financial position enables us to successfully meet all of our financial commitments and raise financing for future aircraft deliveries.
"Our strong position today is reflective of our ability to adapt, returning us to a vigorous period of growth. With 62 new state-of-the-art aircraft ordered in the first half, we remain well positioned to capitalise on this growth.”
Emirates has launched four new destinations for passengers since April this year – Amsterdam, Prague, Madrid and Dakar – and increased capacity by launching the larger A380 on routes to Manchester and Beijing.
At the same tine t took delivery of six new wide-body aircraft. Two more aircraft are scheduled to be delivered before the end of the financial year.
By Linsey McNeill
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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