The Emirates Group has announced its revenue reached AED24.7 billion (US$ 6.7 billion) for the first six months of the 2021-22 financial year, up 81 per cent from AED13.7 billion ($3.7 billion) during the same period last year.

The group also reported a 2021-22 half-year net loss of AED5.7 billion ($1.6 billion), substantially improved from its AED14.1 billion ($3.8 billion) loss for the same period last year.

This strong revenue recovery was underpinned by the easing of travel restrictions worldwide and the corresponding increase in demand for air transport as countries progressed their COVID-19 vaccination programmes.

“As we began our 2021-22 financial year, COVID-19 vaccination programmes were being rolled out at unprecedented scale around the world. Across the Group, we saw operations and demand pick up as countries started to ease travel restrictions,” said His Highness (HH) Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group.

“Our cargo transport and handling businesses continued to perform strongly, providing the bedrock upon which we were able to quickly reinstate passenger services. 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,” added Sheikh Ahmed.

In the first half of the 2021-22 financial year, Emirates airline loss was AED5.8 billion ($1.6 billion), compared to last year’s loss of AED12.6 billion ($3.4 billion). Emirates revenue, including other operating income, of AED21.7 billion ($5.9 billion) was up 86 per cent compared with the AED11.7 billion ($3.2 billion) recorded during the same period last year.

Overall capacity during the first six months of the year increased by 66 per cent to 16.3 billion Available Tonne Kilometres (ATKM) due to a substantially expanded flight programme as more countries eased travel and flight restrictions. Emirates carried 6.1 million passengers between April 1 and September 30, up 319 per cent from the same period last year.

The volume of cargo uplifted at 1.1 million tonnes has increased by 39 per cent, which brings the business back to 90 per cent of pre-pandemic (2019) levels by volume handled.

The group’s dnata’s businesses in cargo and ground handling, catering and retail, and travel services saw demand return quickly wherever pandemic-related flight and travel restrictions were eased. dnata’s revenue, including other operating income, was AED3.7 billion ($1 billion), a 55 per cent increase compared to AED2.4 billion ($644 million) last year. Overall profit for dnata is AED85 million ($23 million), compared to last year’s loss of AED1.5 billion ($396 million).

By 30 September, the airline was operating passenger and cargo services to 139 airports, utilising its entire Boeing 777 fleet and 37 A380s. — VNS