The Emirates group is given positive signs of recovery; both the mainline carrier, Emirates Airlines, and Dnata reported promising results for fiscal year (FY)21.
The Emirates Group
In the FY21 ended March 31st, the Emirates Group reported a loss of $1bn. Although this result might sound quite drastic, it still represents a loss reduction of $6bn compared to the same period last year.
Revenues increased by 86% year-on-year to $18bn following solid customer demand linked to the worldwide easing of travel restrictions. On the other side, the subsidiary Dnata reported a profit of $29m, which compares to a $490m loss in 2020. Revenues saw an increase of 54%, equalling $2.3bn. The Group closed FY21 with a cash balance of $7bn, up 30% y-o-y.
The Group CEO, Sheik Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, commented:
This year, we focussed on restoring our operations quickly and safely wherever pandemic-related restrictions eased across our markets. Business recovery picked up pace particularly in the seconf hald of the year. Robust customer demand drove a huge improvment in our financial performance compared to our unprecedented losses last year and we built up our strong cash balance.
Looking ahead and some numbers
In 2021-2022, the Emirates Group invested $2.1 billion in new aircraft and facilities, as well as in the adoption of the latest technologies to foster business recovery and future growth.
In FY21, Emirates carried around 19.6 million passengers, which is a threefold increase compared to the previous fiscal year, when 6.6 million customers flew with the airline. Capacity, measured in Available Seat Kilometres (ASKs), saw a remarkable increase of 150% year on year. The load factor also improved by 14.3 percentage points to 59%.
The airline has been deploying its flagship A380 on an increasing number of routes across its network to match the growing demand level. As of March 31, 2022, Emirates was serving 29 destinations with this aircraft.
Emirates CEO stated the group is expected to return to profitability in 2022-2023.
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