Middle Eastern carrier Emirates is citing strong travel demand as it turns in a 2% rise in half-year pre-tax profit to a record Dhs9.7 billion ($2.6 billion).
Emirates posted a net profit of Dhs8.7 billion, after it generated a 5% increase in revenues to Dhs62.2 billion for the six months to 30 September.
It hiked overall capacity for the period by 5%, including a 4% rise in passenger seat capacity, and achieved an average passenger load factor of 80%.
Emirates’ network expansion included restarting daily services to the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, via Singapore, and commencing daily flights to Bogota, in Colombia, via Miami.
It has also opened a new route to Madagascar via the Seychelles, giving it a total of 148 destination airports.
Over the half-year the company re-introduced three Airbus A380s and five Boeing 777-300ERs after refurbishing their cabin interiors as part of a $4 billion scheme.
It has deployed the initial 777s on services to Geneva, Tokyo Haneda and Brussels and, as additional 777s undergo the retrofit, Emirates will deploy them on 10 more routes – Riyadh, Zurich, Kuwait, Dammam, Chicago, Boston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Seattle, Newark-Athens and Miami-Bogota.
The carrier has not indicated when it expects to initiate Airbus A350 operations.
Emirates’ freight operation SkyCargo transported 16% more cargo volume, with particular contributions from strong Chinese e-commerce traffic, it says.
It increased capacity with a Boeing 777 freighter and two wet-leased 747 freighters, while also placing orders for 10 more 777Fs.
Emirates’ performance contributed to a record group pre-tax profit of Dhs10.4 billion, up 1%.
Group chief executive Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum says this strong profitability “enables us to make the investments necessary for our continued success”.
“We’re investing billions of dollars to bring new products and services to the market for our customers,” he adds.
