Kuwait Times, Sunday, May 14, 2023 | Shawwal 24, 1444
Emirates Group unveils record $3 billion profit
Kuwait:
Emirates Group announced a record $3 billion
annual profit on Thursday, hailing a “full recovery” for the Dubai-based carrier
after last year’s losses due to the pandemic. “We’re proud of our 2022-23
performance which is not only a full recovery but also a record result,”
Emirates chairman and CEO Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said in a statement.
The Emirates airline business alone banked $2.9 billion, another record, after
returning a $1.1 billion loss in the previous financial year as passengers began
to return to the skies. The Middle East’s biggest airline had posted a $5.5
billion loss for Covid-ravaged 2020-2021, its first in more than three decades,
after grounding its fleet and making heavy lay-offs.
Emirates Group, which reported a $1.0 billion loss last year, ended 2022-2023
with its highest ever cash balance of $11.6 billion. The group declared a
dividend of $1.2 billion to its owner, the Investment Corporation of Dubai
sovereign wealth fund, and repaid $817 million of debt raised during the Covid
crisis.
“We had anticipated the strong return of travel and, as the last travel
restrictions lifted and triggered a tide of demand, we were ready to expand our
operations quickly and safely to serve our customers,” Sheikh Ahmed said.
Separately, Emirates also announced a $200 million investment in research and
development to reduce the impact of fossil fuels in aviation, calling it “the
biggest single commitment by any airline on sustainability”.
“It’s clear that with the current pathways available to airlines in terms of
emissions reduction, our industry won’t be able to hit net zero targets in the
prescribed timeline,” company president Tim Clark said in a statement. “We
believe our industry needs better solutions.”
In January, Emirates flew a Boeing 777 powered by sustainable aviation fuel,
calling it a “milestone”. However, the biomass-based fuel is in extremely short
supply, covering only around 0.1 percent of airlines’ total needs in 2022,
according to the International Air Transport Association.
“I don’t think we should over-promise,” Clark told journalists at the Arabian
Travel Market industry fair in Dubai last week, when asked about the potential
of sustainable fuel. “You will not fly an A380 to Los Angeles, with 500
passengers on board burning 200 tonnes of fuel, on anything other than fossil
fuel for the time being.”
Emirates, which flies out of Middle East aviation hub Dubai, is facing increased
competition notably from Saudi Arabia, which has announced plans for a new
airline and a big new airport in Riyadh. But Clark insisted that Emirates did
not feel under pressure from its rivals, partly because he expects global
passenger numbers to soar in the years ahead.
“Do I see this as a threat to us? No, I don’t think so. Because Emirates has
spent the best part of 35, 36 years building its brand,” he said at the industry
event. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think that Emirates would have it all
its own way in perpetuity… but is there room for more? Well, bring it on.”