The Emirates Group has announced its half-yearly results which show steady performance and growth, despite a challenging business environment marked by ongoing health pandemic concerns, regional conflicts, and weakening global markets. The Emirates Group revenues reached AED 47.5 billion (US$ 12.9 billion) for the first six months of its 2014-15 fiscal year, up 12 per cent from AED 42.3 billion (US$ 11.5 billion) from the same period last year.
“As the biggest operator at Dubai International, we also took the biggest hit to our bottom line from the 80-day runway upgrading works. However, we had anticipated it and made meticulous plans to minimise impact operationally and commercially for both Emirates and dnata. The success of these plans can be seen in our overall growth during this six-month period in spite of the challenge,” said Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group.
In the first half of its financial year 2014-15, Emirates reported continued business growth, both in terms of capacity on offer and traffic carried. Capacity measured in Available Seat Kilometres (ASKM), grew by 6.5 per cent, whilst passenger traffic carried measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPKM) was up 9.8 per cent with Passenger Seat Factor increasing and averaging at 81.5 per cent, compared with last year’s 79.2 per cent. Emirates carried 23.3 million passengers between 1 April and 30 September 2014, up 8.4 per cent from the same period last year.
Emirates revenue, including other operating income, of AED 44.2 billion (US$ 12.0 billion) was higher by 11 per cent compared with AED 39.8 billion (US$ 10.8 billion) recorded last year, reflecting strong passenger and cargo demand.
dnata’s airport operations remained the largest contributor to revenues with AED 1.4 billion (US$ 388 million), a 3 per cent increase compared to the same period last year. Across its operations, the number of aircraft handled by dnata dropped to 140,582, a reduction of 1 per cent.
Revenue from dnata’s Travel Services operation contributed AED 873 million (US$ 238 million), up 161 per cent from the same period last year. The travel division expanded its international offering with the acquisition of Gold Medal in the UK, which contributed to a substantial increase in the division’s underlying net sales of 29 per cent to AED 3.8 billion (US$ 1 billion).
