Emirates airline half-year profit at Dh786m

Emirates airline reported on Wednesday a 75% year-on-year decline in profits to reach Dh786m for the first half of 2016-2017 financial year ending in September 2016. The airline said the decline followed one of Emirates’ best half-year performances in 2015, and attributed it to a stronger US dollar and a challenging operating environment. Emirates also said increased competition resulted in lower airfares, which impacted revenues. Emirates’ revenues were almost flat, dropping one per cent year-on-year to reach Dh41.9b in the first half of the financial year. “The airline was also impacted by currency devaluation and hard currency shortage in some African countries, as well as dampened travel demand due to the ongoing economic malaise and looming security concerns across major markets in its network,” the airline said. Emirates’ operating costs rose 5% against a capacity increase of 9%. On average, fuel costs during H1 were down 10% year-on-year. Fuel remained the largest component of costs, however, accounting for 24% of the airline’s operating costs compared with 28% in the first six months of last year.<br/>