Air Travel Demand Push Emirates Revenue to $2.8 Billion

Surging demand for air travel has ensured the pre-profit tax for Emirates Group, reach $2.8 billion, an increase of 2% in the corresponding year before, in the first six months of 2024-2025 (April 1 to September 30), the company said on Thursday.

This is the first financial year that the UAE corporate income tax, enacted in 2023, is applied to the Emirates Group and after accounting for the 9% tax charge, the Group’s profit after tax stood at $2.5 billion.

Demonstrating its strong operating profitability, the Group maintained a robust EBITDA of $5.55 billion, slightly lower from $5.6 billion last year.

The Group revenue was $19.3 billion for the first six months of 2024-25, up 5% from $18.3 billion last year. This reflects the consistently strong customer demand across business divisions, and across regions.

The Group closed the first half year of 2024-25 with a solid cash position of $11.9 billion on 30 September 2024, compared with $12.8 billion on 31 March 2024. The Group has been able to tap on its own strong cash reserves to support business needs, including payments for new freighter aircraft orders and other debt payments.

The Group also paid $540 million in dividend to its owner, as declared at the end of its 2023-24 financial year.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group said that the Group has surpassed its record performance of last year to deliver a fantastic result for the first half of 2024-25. This again illustrates the power of our proven business model working in combination with Dubai’s growth trajectory as a city of choice to live, work, visit, connect through, and do business in.

He said that the Group’s strong profitability enabled them to make the investments necessary for their continued success. The company has been investing billions of dollars to bring new products and services to the market for our customers; to implement advanced technologies and other innovation projects to drive growth; and to look after the employees who work hard every day to ensure customers’ safety and satisfaction.

He added: “We expect customer demand to remain strong for the rest of 2024-25, and we look forward to increasing our capacity to grow revenues as new aircraft join the Emirates fleet and new facilities come online at dnata. The outlook is positive, but we don’t intend to rest on our laurels. We will stay agile in deploying our capacity and resources in a dynamic marketplace.”

Emirates Airline

Emirates continued to enhance its network and increase connectivity options through its Dubai hub.  During the first half of 2024-25, Emirates increased scheduled flights to 8 cities: Amsterdam, Cebu, Clark, Luanda, Lyon, Madrid, Manila and Singapore.

In May, Emirates restarted daily services to Phnom Penh in Cambodia via Singapore. In June, it launched daily services to Bogotá via Miami, expanding the airline’s South American presence to Colombia. In September, Emirates opened a new route to Madagascar via the Seychelles – taking its passenger and cargo network to 148 airports in 80 countries by 30 September.

Between 1 April and 30 September, 8 aircraft (3 A380s, 5 Boeing 777s) with fully refreshed interiors rolled out of the airline’s $4 billion retrofit programme. By year end, Emirates’ latest A380 and Boeing 777 inflight experiences including Premium Economy, will be available to customers on over 30 routes.

Emirates revenue, including other operating income, of $16.9 billion was up 5% compared with $16.2 billion for the same period last year. The airline’s new record revenue can be attributed to consistently strong travel and air cargo demand across markets, and its ability to offer customers great value and services.

Dubai National Air Travel Agency

Dubai National Air Travel Agency, (dnata), the Emirati airport services provider which provides aircraft ground handling, cargo, travel, and flight catering services across five continents, saw strong growth in the first six months of 2024-25, as it continued to ramp up operations across its cargo and ground handling, catering and retail, and travel services businesses.

dnata’s revenue, including other operating income, of $2.8 billion increased by 11% compared with $2.5 billion generated in the same period last year.

Overall profit before tax for dnata was$196 million, down by 5% from the same period last year, primarily due to a one-off impairment charge of $41.38 million and profit after tax was $156 million. dnata’s EBITDA was $354 million, up 16% from last year’s $305 million.