Emirates Group reported an annual profit of 10.9 billion dirhams ($3 billion) as a rapid rebound in travel from the pandemic-induced slump drove the world’s biggest long-haul airline to restore its network.
(Bloomberg) — Emirates Group reported an annual profit of 10.9 billion dirhams ($3 billion) as a rapid rebound in travel from the pandemic-induced slump drove the world’s biggest long-haul airline to restore its network.
The carrier said it would pay its owner, the Investment Corporation of Dubai, a dividend of 4.5 billion dirhams for the year ended March 2022, as well as prematurely repay 3 billion dirhams of debt it had raised during the pandemic.
Emirates expects to remain profitable in the financial year that began in April, Chairman Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said in a statement.
Demand for long-haul travel has surged as travel restrictions imposed during the pandemic gave way to so-called revenge travel.
Dubai had a 97% increase in international visitors in 2022, Emirates said in the statement. The carrier’s President Tim Clark said this month that at one point, for every business class seat Emirates sold out of London, there were four or five people trying to get a slot, driving fares higher.
The airline ended the year with its highest ever cash balance of 42.5 billion dirhams.
Emirates has large backlogs for the upcoming Boeing Co.
777X that it plans to bring into service from summer 2025, as well as the Airbus SE A350 model, with deliveries from August next year.
Clark said the carrier plans to place further orders in the next few months, looking to lock in delivery slots, as airlines around the world build up their fleets in a bet that the post-pandemic recovery is here to stay.
Read More: Emirates Plans More Jet Orders as Long-Haul Travel Rebounds
The Dubai International airport, where Emirates is based, this week reported its busiest quarter since 2019 and said it expects full-year traffic to hit 83.6 million passengers — closing in on levels seen before the pandemic.
(Updates with background about jet orders in fifth paragraph.)
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.
