Emirates has continued to invest in the most advanced wide-body aircraft to improve overall efficiency and provide better customer experience. During the first six months of the financial year, Emirates received 16 wide-body aircraft – 8 Airbus A380s, and 8 Boeing 777s, with 20 more new aircraft scheduled to be delivered before the end of the financial year. It also retired 19 older aircraft from its fleet with further 8 to be returned by 31 March 2017.
Also, Emirates expanded its global route network by launching passenger services to four new destinations – Yinchuan, Zhengzhou, Yangon, and Hanoi. As of 30 September, Emirates’ global network spanned 155 destinations in 82 countries, with Fort Lauderdale to come online on 15 December 2016.
Operating the world’s largest fleet of A380s and the largest fleet of Boeing 777s, Emirates continues to provide ever better connections for its customers across the globe with just one stop in Dubai.
Overall capacity during the first six months of the year increased 9% to 30.2 billion Available Tonne Kilometres (ATKM). Capacity measured in Available Seat Kilometres (ASKM), grew by 12%, whilst passenger traffic carried measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPKM) was up 8% with average Passenger Seat Factor dropping to 75.3%, compared with last year’s 78.3%.
Emirates carried 28 million passengers between 1 April and 30 September 2016, up 9% from the same period last year. The volume of cargo uplifted remained stable at 1.3 million tonnes, a solid performance in a challenging air freight market.
In the first half of the 2016-17 financial year, Emirates net profit is AED 786 million (US$ 214 million), down 75%, following one of the airline’s best half-year performances during the same period last year.
Emirates revenue, including other operating income, of AED 41.9 billion (US$ 11.4 billion) was slightly down by 1% compared with AED 42.3 billion (US$ 11.5 billion) recorded last year. This is due to the unfavourable currency environment – where the US dollar continued to strengthen against most other major currencies; and increased competition resulting in lower average fares.
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.
Emirates operating costs grew by 5% against the overall capacity increase of 9%. On average, fuel costs were 10% lower compared to the same period last year. However, fuel remained the largest component of the airline’s cost, accounting for 24% of operating costs compared with 28% in the first six months of last year.
