Emirates Group reports record $5.1B annual profit

Dubai's Emirates Group has announced annual profits of $5.1 billion, a rise of 71 percent, as the airline company set a new record for the second year in a row.

"The Emirates Group has once again raised the bar to deliver a new record performance," chairman and chief executive Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said in a statement on Monday.

Citing strong customer demand, it said group profits for the past two years hit $8.1 billion, surpassing the losses seen during pandemic-hit 2020-2022.

Emirates has now erased the $1.1 billion loss in 2021-2022 and the heavy $5.5 billion deficit a year earlier, when it was forced to ground its fleet and lay off staff.

"The Group's excellent financial standing today places us in a strong position for future growth and success. It enables us to invest to deliver even better products, services, and more value to our customers and stakeholders," Sheikh Ahmed said.

Emirates Group also encompasses airport services company Dnata, whose profits more than quadrupled to $400 million.

"The business outlook is positive, and we expect customer demand for air transport and travel to remain strong in the coming months," said Sheikh Ahmed, adding that possible hazards included "volatile environments caused by socio-political changes".

Last month, the emirate announced that work had begun on a new terminal at Al Maktoum on Dubai's outskirts, which the Gulf emirate's ruler said will become "the world's largest" at a cost of almost $35 billion and 260 million passenger capacity.

The first phase of the project is expected to be ready within 10 years, with a capacity to accommodate 150 million passengers annually.