Emirates Group reports its 2020-21 financial performance

Gulf Today Report

The Emirates Group on Thursday reported its financial performance for 2020-21.

The group generated revenue amounting to Dhs13.7 billion (US$3.7 billion) for the first six months of 2020-21, 74 per cent less than Dhs53.3 billion (US$14.5 billion) generated in 2019.

In a statement released by the Group, "the dramatic revenue decline was due to the COVID-19 pandemic which brought global air passenger travel to a halt for many weeks as countries closed their borders and imposed travel restrictions. As part of pandemic containment measures, Emirates and dnata’s hub in Dubai also suspended scheduled passenger flights for 8 weeks during April and May."

On 30 September 2020, the group’s cash position stood at Dhs 20.7 billion (US$5.6 billion) lower than Dhs25.6 billion (US$7.0 billion) dollars it had at 31 March 2020.

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Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group said, "We began our current financial year amid a global lockdown when air passenger traffic was at a literal standstill. In this unprecedented situation for the aviation and travel industry, the Emirates Group recorded a half-year loss for the first time in over 30 years.

"The Emirates Group’s resilience in the face of current headwinds is testimony to the strength of our business model, and our years of continued investment in skills, technology and infrastructure which are now paying off in terms of cost and operational efficiency. Emirates and dnata have also built strong brands and agile digital capabilities which continue to serve us well, and enabled us to respond adeptly to the accelerated shift of customer and business activities online over the past 6 months."

Emirates airline began full scheduled passenger operations on 21 May.

Emirates carried 1.5 million passengers between 1 April and 30 September 2020, 95 per cent lower from the same period last year. The volume of cargo that uplifted at 0.8million tonnes has declined by 35 per cent, yield has jumped by 106 per cent.