Emirates pares back losses on rebounding travel demand

Emirates has pared back its losses as demand for travel rebounds with the Gulf airline’s revenues surging 86%. The government-owned carrier was hit with a half-year loss of $1.6b in its 2021-2022 financial year compared with a loss of $3.8b in the previous period. The Dubai-based airline carried 6.1m passengers between April and the end of September this year, a 319% increase on the same period in 2020-2021. “We saw operations and demand pick up as countries started to ease travel restrictions,” said Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the airline’s chair and CE. “This momentum accelerated over the summer and continues to grow steadily into the winter season and beyond.” The airline’s home base of Dubai is also recovering after last year’s recession as tourism and business activity picks up. The city, which has a symbiotic relationship with its flagship carrier, is hosting the delayed Expo 2020 world fair and has witnessed an influx of tourists and residents thanks to its successful handling of the pandemic, implementing restrictions to curb infections while keeping the economy as open as possible. The airline said it had been restarting services or increasing frequency to destinations as travel restrictions were lifted. In July, it launched services to Miami, a new destination. By the end of the period, Emirates was serving 139 airports, using all its Boeing 777s and about a third of its A380 superjumbos. The group, which includes cargo and ground handling, reported a loss of $1.6b with revenues up 81% as countries progressed with vaccination programmes.<br/>