We are living in a momentous time in the history of Dubai and the Emirates Group. Dubai has dusted off the ashes of the global recession and is now abuzz with a powerful spirit of entrepreneurship, energised trade and industry and rejuvenated business leadership. At Emirates, we are gearing up for a fleet of more than 250 aircraft serving 70 million customers in 2020, while dnata’s acquisition strategy continues to span its core businesses and the globe.
Our hub Dubai’s resurgence and the Group’s readiness is the fitting backdrop to our half-yearly financial results from 1st April to 30th September 2013.
The Financials
The Emirates Group’s half-yearly revenue crossed the Dhs40 billion milestone, grossing Dhs42.3 billion, a 13% rise from September 2012. The group earned a net profit of Dhs2.2 billion, an upswing of 4% from last year. Our cash balance of Dhs18.2 billion is 33% lower compared to March 2013, mainly because we used our funds from the bonds issued towards the end of the last financial year to finance new aircraft, engines and spares, as well as to repay our bond liability.
Emirates posted a modest 2% profit growth to Dhs1.7 billion as we continued to confront high fuel costs and the weakening of major currencies against the US Dollar. Revenue and other operating income increased by 12% to Dhs39.8 billion. In our operating costs of Dhs37.6 billion, our fuel bill alone was worth Dhs14.7 billion.
We carried 21.5 million passengers, a robust increase of 15% that reflected the strong demand for our services. While our seat capacity expanded by 16%, our seat load factor decreased just marginally from 79.7% to 79.2%.
dnata’s profit grew by 13% to Dhs458 million, while revenue and other operating income rose by 18% to Dhs3.7billion. Operating costs increased by 17% to Dhs3.3 billion.
Employees
Our employee numbers are a good indication of our rally and resilience in the past six months. Group employees crossed the 75,000 mark and we now have 75,842 people working for Emirates and dnata, growing by 11.7% since March 2013.
Emirates employed 51,911 people, flying past the 50,000 mark for the first time. This strong 8.9% increase is driven by overall business expansion and Emirates Flight Catering’s 17% growth to better serve Concourse A and Dubai World Central (DWC). Overall, the airline has grown by 7.6%.
dnata employed 23,931 people, an increase of 18.3%. It continued to grow apace internationally, with subsidiaries’ employee numbers increasing by 30.8%, three times more than Dubai operations at 9.8%.
The first six months
April to September marked six months of achievements and triumphs.
Among other hard-won accolades, Emirates was awarded the highly coveted Skytrax Airline of the Year 2013, firmly overshadowing all other carriers. As HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, commented: “It’s not about modest beginnings but limitless ambition”.
Emirates Executive, our exclusive private jet service in a customised Airbus A319 aircraft, created ripples in the region and earned us high net worth clients.
Ten new aircraft – six Airbus A380s, three Boeing 777s and one 777 freighter – joined the fleet. We launched services to two new destinations – Haneda and Stockholm. Our resumption of services to Tripoli, suspended since February 2011 due to political instability, was a truly special moment.
Between September 2012 and 2013, we have launched services to seven new destinations, including Adelaide, Lyon, Phuket, Warsaw and Algiers, a good indicator of our global expansion and a tremendous source of pride for our team.
By the fifth anniversary of our iconic A380, the fleet had carried a staggering 18 million passengers over 20,000 trips since the inaugural service on 1st August 2008 from Dubai to New York.
Emirates’ new Hello Tomorrow advertising campaign announced our intentions to become a lifestyle brand. Escalating engagement levels on our social media sites won the hearts of two million Facebook fans within the first 18 months of launch.
The First Wave campaign, designed to improve efficiency during peak morning hours at the hub, positively impacted network-wide operations. Our third environment report placed star employees centre stage and shone the spotlight on a host of green improvements – from recycling to routing.
dnata did us proud by being well prepared and fully trained for the start of passenger services at DWC Al Maktoum International Airport. Our investments in dnata’s One Safety programme will ensure our people’s safety through a sustained campaign of learning and measurement. dnata’s acquisition of Servair Airchef, an Italian operation with a presence in 23 airports, substantially increased its catering portfolio and revenue.
The next six months
Today we fly to 137 destinations, having launched services to Clark, Conakry and Sialkot since September. By end-March, we will also start services to Kabul, Taipei, Kiev and Boston – marking nine new destinations this financial year.
Around 15 more new aircraft are scheduled to join the fleet this financial year. More than 50 aircraft are due to retire from the Emirates fleet over the next three years – that’s 17 aircraft every year. We are busy managing this attrition and are planning for our projected growth.
Dubai and the Emirates Group will continue to grow in tandem – a synergetic relationship highlighted in the National Geographic’s Ultimate Airport Dubai series, in which our employees starred as true ambassadors for the organisation and the city.
I have been asked what will happen if we don’t win the World Expo 2020 bid on 27th November. My answer: of course we will be disappointed at missing a massive opportunity to showcase our city, but we must remember that Dubai is not just gearing up for one specific event – we are preparing to take our rightful and central place in the future of our planet.
Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum
Chairman & Chief Executive Emirates Airline & Group
Our hub Dubai’s resurgence and the Group’s readiness is the fitting backdrop to our half-yearly financial results from 1st April to 30th September 2013.
The Financials
The Emirates Group’s half-yearly revenue crossed the Dhs40 billion milestone, grossing Dhs42.3 billion, a 13% rise from September 2012. The group earned a net profit of Dhs2.2 billion, an upswing of 4% from last year. Our cash balance of Dhs18.2 billion is 33% lower compared to March 2013, mainly because we used our funds from the bonds issued towards the end of the last financial year to finance new aircraft, engines and spares, as well as to repay our bond liability.
Emirates posted a modest 2% profit growth to Dhs1.7 billion as we continued to confront high fuel costs and the weakening of major currencies against the US Dollar. Revenue and other operating income increased by 12% to Dhs39.8 billion. In our operating costs of Dhs37.6 billion, our fuel bill alone was worth Dhs14.7 billion.
We carried 21.5 million passengers, a robust increase of 15% that reflected the strong demand for our services. While our seat capacity expanded by 16%, our seat load factor decreased just marginally from 79.7% to 79.2%.
dnata’s profit grew by 13% to Dhs458 million, while revenue and other operating income rose by 18% to Dhs3.7billion. Operating costs increased by 17% to Dhs3.3 billion.
Employees
Our employee numbers are a good indication of our rally and resilience in the past six months. Group employees crossed the 75,000 mark and we now have 75,842 people working for Emirates and dnata, growing by 11.7% since March 2013.
Emirates employed 51,911 people, flying past the 50,000 mark for the first time. This strong 8.9% increase is driven by overall business expansion and Emirates Flight Catering’s 17% growth to better serve Concourse A and Dubai World Central (DWC). Overall, the airline has grown by 7.6%.
dnata employed 23,931 people, an increase of 18.3%. It continued to grow apace internationally, with subsidiaries’ employee numbers increasing by 30.8%, three times more than Dubai operations at 9.8%.
The first six months
April to September marked six months of achievements and triumphs.
Among other hard-won accolades, Emirates was awarded the highly coveted Skytrax Airline of the Year 2013, firmly overshadowing all other carriers. As HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, commented: “It’s not about modest beginnings but limitless ambition”.
Emirates Executive, our exclusive private jet service in a customised Airbus A319 aircraft, created ripples in the region and earned us high net worth clients.
Ten new aircraft – six Airbus A380s, three Boeing 777s and one 777 freighter – joined the fleet. We launched services to two new destinations – Haneda and Stockholm. Our resumption of services to Tripoli, suspended since February 2011 due to political instability, was a truly special moment.
Between September 2012 and 2013, we have launched services to seven new destinations, including Adelaide, Lyon, Phuket, Warsaw and Algiers, a good indicator of our global expansion and a tremendous source of pride for our team.
By the fifth anniversary of our iconic A380, the fleet had carried a staggering 18 million passengers over 20,000 trips since the inaugural service on 1st August 2008 from Dubai to New York.
Emirates’ new Hello Tomorrow advertising campaign announced our intentions to become a lifestyle brand. Escalating engagement levels on our social media sites won the hearts of two million Facebook fans within the first 18 months of launch.
The First Wave campaign, designed to improve efficiency during peak morning hours at the hub, positively impacted network-wide operations. Our third environment report placed star employees centre stage and shone the spotlight on a host of green improvements – from recycling to routing.
dnata did us proud by being well prepared and fully trained for the start of passenger services at DWC Al Maktoum International Airport. Our investments in dnata’s One Safety programme will ensure our people’s safety through a sustained campaign of learning and measurement. dnata’s acquisition of Servair Airchef, an Italian operation with a presence in 23 airports, substantially increased its catering portfolio and revenue.
The next six months
Today we fly to 137 destinations, having launched services to Clark, Conakry and Sialkot since September. By end-March, we will also start services to Kabul, Taipei, Kiev and Boston – marking nine new destinations this financial year.
Around 15 more new aircraft are scheduled to join the fleet this financial year. More than 50 aircraft are due to retire from the Emirates fleet over the next three years – that’s 17 aircraft every year. We are busy managing this attrition and are planning for our projected growth.
Dubai and the Emirates Group will continue to grow in tandem – a synergetic relationship highlighted in the National Geographic’s Ultimate Airport Dubai series, in which our employees starred as true ambassadors for the organisation and the city.
I have been asked what will happen if we don’t win the World Expo 2020 bid on 27th November. My answer: of course we will be disappointed at missing a massive opportunity to showcase our city, but we must remember that Dubai is not just gearing up for one specific event – we are preparing to take our rightful and central place in the future of our planet.
Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum
Chairman & Chief Executive Emirates Airline & Group
