Dubai: From grounding flights during Covid to registering record profit of Dh10.9 billion; how Emirates turned the tide

Dubai: From grounding flights during Covid to registering record profit of Dh10.9 billion; how Emirates turned the tide

The airline has moved from pandemic recovery to growth phase this year, hiring over 17,000 employees

Published: Fri 12 May 2023, 6:00 AM

Emirates Group has bounced back strongly after the pandemic, posting a record profit of Dh10.9 billion ($3 billion) for its 2022-23 financial year.

It posted a Dh3.8 billion loss in 2021-22 and a Dh22.1 billion loss in 2020-21 following the outbreak of the coronavirus, resulting in the grounding of the aircraft at the peak of the pandemic.

After grounding the aircraft to sending thousands of its staff on long leaves during the peak of the pandemic, the group has now almost returned to its pre-pandemic number of employees and overall performance as well.

Prior to Covid, it employed 105,730 employees in 2019-20. By the end of the 2022-23 financial year ended on March 31, it employed 102,379 employees, adding 17,160 workers – thanks to the strong recovery in the trade and tourism sectors last year.

In this spectacular turnaround, Dubai’s flagship airline Emirates played a key role and proved highly resilient yet again as it moved from post-pandemic recovery to a growth phase this year.

“If nothing else, the past 3 years have clearly shown the Emirates Group’s true mettle. We are nimble, resilient,