Revenue down 74% to US$ 3.7bn for this period
The Emirates Group today announced its half-year results for its 2020-21 financial year.
Group revenue was AED 13.7bn (US$ 3.7bn) for the first six months of 2020-21, down 74% from AED 53.3bn (US$ 14.5bn) during the same period last year, the Group announced via a press communiqué.
This dramatic revenue decline was due to the pandemic which brought global air passenger travel to a halt for many weeks as countries closed their borders and imposed travel restrictions.
The Group is reporting a 2020-21 half-year net loss of AED 14.1bn (US$ 3.8bn).
“As passenger traffic disappeared, Emirates and dnata have been able to rapidly pivot to serve cargo demand and other pockets of opportunity. This has helped us recover our revenues from zero to 26% of our position same time last year,” asserted HH Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group.
The Emirates Group’s employee base, compared to 31 March 2020, is substantially reduced by 24% to an overall count of 81,334 as at 30 September 2020.
During the first six months of 2020-21, Emirates retired three older aircraft from its fleet as part of its long-standing strategy to improve overall efficiency, minimize its emissions footprint, and provide high quality customer experiences.
As directed by the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority, Emirates temporarily suspended passenger flights on 25 March and worked closely with governments and embassies to operate repatriation services until Dubai International airport (DXB) re-opened for transit passengers and later for scheduled passenger flights.
Emirates was able to uplift 65% of its cargo volumes compared to the same period last year, which shows its cargo division’s outstanding agility in adapting its operations to provide air freight services in this new environment.
In a very short time, Emirates Skycargo completed the partial retrofit of 10 Boeing 777-300ER passenger aircraft to transport freight on the main deck, introduced new operation protocols to enable the safe uplift of cargo in passenger cabins, rapidly restarted and scaled up its global cargo network, and put in place comprehensive bio-safety protocols for employees.
In the first half of the 2020-21 financial year, Emirates loss was AED 12.6bn (US$ 3.4bn), compared to last year’s profit of AED 862mn (US$ 235mn). Emirates revenue, including other operating income, of AED 11.7bn (US$ 3.2bn) was down 75% compared with the AED 47.3bn (US$ 12.9bn) recorded during the same period last year.
