Adam Schreck
Associated Press
DUBAI: Emirates airline said Thursday it more than doubled its fiscal first-half profit thanks to cost cuts and lower fuel prices, but warned it would take time for travel demand to rebound significantly. The Mideast’s biggest airline said it earned 752 million dirhams ($204.9 million) in the six months through September, up from $77.4 million during the same period a year earlier.
Profit increased despite a 14 percent drop in revenue.
Dubai-based Emirates attributed the increased earnings to cost-control measures and a decline in jet-fuel prices, which have fallen sharply since last year, along with the price of oil.
“The months since the global meltdown have really tested our mettle,” Sheikh Ahmad bin Saeed al-Maktoum, the carrier’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. He said the profit growth was a testament to Emirates’ “strong business foundations and agility in adapting to the challenging global economic environment.”
Despite the global downturn, Emirates’ pressed ahead with its focus on aggressively growing its business. The airline added eight planes to its fleet during the first half. It has launched two new routes and added flights on others.
As a result, capacity is up 22 percent over the same period a year earlier.
The airline is continuing to fill its cargo holds and seats; passenger occupancy stood at 77.5 percent – down less than a percentage point from last year – but travelers and shippers are paying less.
Emirates said that revenue during the first half of the year slipped to $5.4 billion, from $6.2 billion a year ago.
This was mostly because of lower passenger and cargo yields: the amount the airline pockets from tickets and freight charges after covering costs.
The carrier’s situation mirrors that of the industry as a whole. The head of the International Air Transport Association trade group last week said demand is bouncing back to pre-crisis levels, “but yields continue to be a disaster.”
Looking ahead, Maktoum cautioned that the industry still faced challenges as it navigated a way through the global economic slump.
“While some say the green shoots of economy recovery are sprouting, we expect it will take at least another year or two before demand for air transport and travel services starts picking up again,” Maktoum said.
State-owned Emirates ranks among the world’s biggest international airlines, both in terms of people carried and miles flown.
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