Emirates Reports $3.8 Billion Net Loss, Cuts Quarter Of Staff In H1

• Mega carrier reports loss for first time in over 30 years
• Confident of speedy recovery once vaccine is rolled out

Emirates Group lost AED 14.1 billion ($3.8 billion) and shed 24% of its staff in the first six months of its latest financial year as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the group said on Thursday.

Group revenues dropped 74% to AED 13.7 billion ($3.7 billion) in H1, compared to a profit of AED 1.2 billion ($320 million) in the same period last year.

“This dramatic revenue decline was due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” Emirates group said in a statement.

Emirates suspended scheduled passenger flights for eight weeks during April and May as part of the UAE’s efforts to curb the spread of the virus. The group had AED 20.7 billion (US$ 5.6 billion) of cash as of 30 September 2020.

“We began our current financial year amid a global lockdown when air passenger traffic was at a literal standstill,” said HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group.

“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.

“As passenger traffic disappeared, Emirates and dnata have been able to rapidly pivot to serve cargo demand and other pockets of opportunity. This has helped us recover our revenues from zero to 26% of our position same time last year.”

Sheikh Ahmed said: “No one can predict the future, but we expect a steep recovery in travel demand once a Covid-19 vaccine is available, and we are readying ourselves to serve that rebound.”

The government earlier in the year injected $2 billion into Emirates to help boost liquidity and see the airline through the crisis.

The Emirates Group’s employee base, compared to 31 March 2020, was reduced by 24% to an overall count of 81,334 as at 30 September 2020.

Emirates airline KPIs

During the first six months of 2020-21, Emirates retired three older aircraft from its fleet.

Overall capacity during the first six months of the year declined by 67% to 9.8 billion Available Tonne Kilometres (ATKM).

Emirates carried 1.5 million passengers between 1 April and 30 September 2020, down 95% from the same period last year. The volume of cargo uplifted at 0.8 million tonnes has decreased by 35% while yield has more than doubled by 106%.

The carrier was able to uplift 65% of its cargo volumes compared to the same period last year.

Operating costs according to the airline reduced by 52% against the overall capacity decrease of 67%. Fuel costs were 83% lower compared to the same period last year.

This was due to a decrease in oil prices (down 49% compared to same period last year), as well as a 76% lower fuel uplift from substantially reduced flight operations during the six months period up to end of September.

Despite the significant drop in operations during the six months, Emirates airline’s EBITDA stood positive at AED 290 million ($79 million) compared to AED 13.2 billion ($3.6 billion) for the same period last year.

Wole Shadare