Emirates Group Posts Record $2.8 Billion In Profit For H1 As Cabin Retrofit Investment Pays Off

Emirates Group, which encompasses Emirates and dnata, the ground handling company based in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, and their subsidiaries, has announced a record-breaking half-year profit before tax driven by solid demand across its businesses.
Slight pre-tax profit improvement
Emirates Group detailed that in H1 FY2024/2025, the group posted a profit before tax of $2.8 billion, an increase of 1% year-on-year (YoY).
Group-wide revenues were $19.3 billion, up 5% YoY, which reflected strong customer demand across its business divisions and regions where it operated, it said. The group’s earnings before income, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) was $5.6 billion, slightly lower than the figure during the same period a year prior.
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While Emirates Group did not disclose its net profit or net loss, its cash position has slightly deteriorated to $11.9 billion as of September 30, compared to $12.8 billion on March 31, when the previous fiscal year ended.
Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the chairman and chief executive of Emirates, said that the group managed to deliver a fantastic result for the first half of the current fiscal period. The executive highlighted the group’s proven business model, which worked in combination with Dubai’s growth trajectory.
“The Group’s strong profitability enables us to make the investments necessary for our continued success. We’re investing billions of dollars to bring new products and services to the market for our customers; to implement advanced technologies and other innovation projects to drive growth; and to look after our employees who work hard every day to ensure our customers’ safety and satisfaction.”
Emirates ended FY2023/2024 with a net profit of $5.1 billion, driven by growing revenues of $37.4 billion during the period that ended on March 31.
Decreasing operating profit
Al Maktoum added that the group expected demand to remain strong for the next six months, with Emirates looking to add more capacity, grow revenues, and welcome new aircraft into its operations.
“The outlook is positive, but we don’t intend to rest on our laurels. We will stay agile in deploying our capacity and resources in a dynamic marketplace.”
Emirates has had to delay the entry-into-service (EIS) of its first-ever Airbus A350-900, pushing it from September 15 to December 16. The aircraft, to be registered as A6-EXA, had operated a test flight on November 5, Flightradar24 data showed.
Photo: Airbus
The A350-900, with the test registration F-WZGA, operated its fifth test flight on the day. During the one-hour and six-minute flight, the widebody jet climbed to as high as 43,000 feet (13,106 meters) before it landed back at Toulouse Blagnac Airport (TLS).
Nevertheless, Emirates, the airline, ended the six months with revenue of $16.9 billion, an increase of 5% YoY. Direct operating costs, including fuel, grew 6% YoY – the group did not disclose the sum – with fuel remaining the most significant component of its operating costs, 32%.
As a result, its EBITDA was $5.2 billion, down from the operating profit of $5.3 billion in H1 FY2023/2024.
Lower load factors
In H1 FY2024/2025, Emirates increased its overall capacity, measured in available tonne kilometers (ATK), by 5%, while its passenger capacity, measured in available seat kilometers (ASK), increased by 4%. Passenger traffic, or revenue passenger kilometers (RPK), measuring the number of kilometers that revenue-paying passengers traveled, increased by 2%.
Furthermore, the airline’s average load factor was 1.5% lower, with an average Emirates flight being 80% full during the six-month period. As a result, it carried 26.9 million passengers, an increase of 3%.
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A bright spot was Emirates SkyCargo, which increased its tonnage by 16% YoY, with growth underpinned by strong eCommerce traffic from China and shipments to Dubai.
During the six-month period, Emirates reintroduced eight aircraft into service with refurbished interiors: three Airbus A380 and five Boeing 777s.
“This enabled Emirates to accelerate the deployment of its latest cabin products, including its latest 4-class Boeing 777 that feature a new 1-2-1 layout of lie-flat seats with personal minibars in Business Class, and the popular Emirates Premium Economy.”
The first retrofitted 777 aircraft entered service in August, operating a flight from Dubai International Airport (DXB) to Geneva Airport (GVA). During the next six months, ten more routes will see 777s with new interiors.