Emirates airline cuts annual loss to $1.06 billion

Emirates airline cuts annual loss to $1.06 billion

Dubai’s Emirates airline on Friday posted an annual loss of $1.1 billion, a sharp improvement on the $5.5 billion loss in the previous year, as demand for international travel was boosted by governments easing pandemic-related curbs.

The airline, which only operates international services, reported a 91 percent jump in revenue to $16.1 billion for the year ended March 31 as passenger numbers tripled to 19.6 million.

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“Business recovery picked up pace particularly in the second half of the year,” Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum said in a statement.

The state-owned airline said it filled 58.6 percent of seats flown, up from 44.3 percent a year earlier, while the number of destinations it served increased from 120 at the start of the financial year to more than 140 as of March 31.

It was the airline’s second consecutive annual loss and only the fourth in its almost 40-year operational history.

Emirates has forecast a return to profitability this financial year, while Chairman Sheikh Ahmed said on Friday the Emirates Group, which includes the airline, would too.

“This year, we focused on restoring our operations quickly and safely wherever pandemic-related