Emirates Airline Net Profit Up
Emirates annual profit more than quadruples
Emirates, the biggest Arab airline, said annual profit more than quadrupled on cost savings and a rise in revenue from core business.
Net income in the 12 months to March 31 advanced to $964 million from an adjusted $187 million announced today for the previous year, the Dubai government-owned airline said at a news conference in Dubai.
“It has been an exceptional year of continued profitability against a backdrop of the worst global recession in generations,” Chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said in a statement. “We continue to grow, not through protectionism but through competition.”
Emirates has a fleet of 146 Airbus SAS and Boeing Co. planes and vies with rivals including British Airways Plc and Singapore Airlines Ltd. for intercontinental traffic between Asia, Europe and the Americas. It has firm orders for 145 aircraft worth more than $48 billion and is the biggest customer for Airbus’ double- decker A380, with an initial order for 58.
Emirates said today it will take delivery of seven Airbus A380 aircraft this year.
Revenue for Emirates Group, which also includes ground handling and cargo services company Dnata, amounted to $12.4 billion and its cash balance was $3.4 billion. The airline said the 2009 seat factor averaged 78.1 percent with a rise of 21 percent in passengers to 27.5 million. Cargo rose 12 percent to 1.6 million tons.
Air travel demand in the Gulf Arab region is surging as economic growth accelerates, fuelled by strong oil prices and higher government expenditure. International air traffic in the Middle East grew 25 percent in first three months of 2010 from a year ago, according to the International Air Transport Association.
The disruptions caused by the eruption of an Icelandic Volcano cost Emirates $10 million a day and grounded a fifth of its fleet, the airline said in April.
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