Emirates more than triples half-year profit

Emirates has announced a 351 per cent increase in net profit for the first half of the year as passenger load factor hit a new record.

The Dubai based carrier recorded a profit of AED3.4bn (A$937m) for the six months to the end of September 2010, as revenue increased by 35 per cent to AED19.5bn (A$5.4bn) compared to the same time last year. Passenger numbers over the half year increased by 17.3 per cent to 15.5 million, while seat factor came in at an impressive 81.2 per cent despite a 13.9 per cent increase in capacity. The airline also noted that premium seat factor increased by 2.6 percentage points during the six months.

“The results for the first half of the 2010-11 financial year are incredibly robust, and reflect Emirates’ success in growing customer demand, supported by investment in new aircraft, products and customer service,” said Emirates Group chairman and chief executive HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum. “We continue to invest our profits in growing the business and our healthy financial position enables us to successfully meet all of our financial commitments and raise financing for future aircraft deliveries. Our strong position today is reflective of our ability to adapt, returning us to a vigorous period of growth. With 62 new state-of-the-art aircraft ordered in the first half, we remain well positioned to capitalise on this growth.”