Category Archives: Emirates Airline

Emirates orders two additional Boeing 777 freighters

Boeing and Emirates today announced an order for two 777 Freighters at the 2021 Dubai Airshow, expanding the future capability of one of the world’s largest cargo airlines at a time of significant global demand for air freight.

A Boeing 777 Freighter operated by Emirates SkyCargo (Emirates photo)

The freighters will be operated by Emirates SkyCargo, which currently operates an all-Boeing fleet of 10 777 Freighters and also carries cargo on Emirates’ 134 777 passenger airplanes. Valued at more than $704 million at list prices, the orders were previously attributed to an unidentified customer on Boeing’s Orders and Deliveries website.

Top Copyright Photo: Emirates SkyCargo (Emirates Airline) Boeing 777-F1H A6-EFE (msn 35607) AMS (Ton Jochems). Image: 955853.

Emirates aircraft slide show:

Emirates aircraft photo gallery:

Emirates Group reports a half-year net loss of AED 5.7 billion ($1.6 billion)

Emirates Group released this financial report:

Group: Revenue up 81% to AED 24.7 billion (US$ 6.7 billion), and loss of AED 5.7 billion (US$ 1.6 billion) after last year’s loss of AED 14.1 billion (US$ 3.8 billion). Substantially improved results reflect recovery across all business segments and easing of COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions worldwide.
Emirates: Revenue up 86% to AED 21.7 billion (US$ 5.9 billion), and loss of AED 5.8 billion (US$ 1.6 billion) compared to AED 12.6 billion (US$ 3.4 billion) loss for the same period last year. Revenue recovery supported by increasing passenger demand and continuous strong cargo business.
dnata: Revenue up 55% to AED 3.7 billion (US$ 1 billion), profit of AED 85 million (US$ 23 million) after last year’s loss of AED 1.5 billion (US$ 396 million), as operations across all dnata business units globally recover from the substantial impact of COVID-19.

The Emirates Group today announced its half-year results for its 2021-22 financial year.

Group revenue was AED 24.7 billion (US$ 6.7 billion) for the first six months of 2021-22, up 81% from AED 13.7 billion (US$ 3.7 billion) during the same period last year. This strong revenue recovery was underpinned by the easing of travel restrictions worldwide and the corresponding increase in demand for air transport as countries progressed their COVID-19 vaccination programs.

The Group is reporting a 2021-22 half-year net loss of AED 5.7 billion (US$ 1.6 billion), substantially improved from its AED 14.1 billion (US$ 3.8 billion) loss for the same period last year.

The Group also reported an EBITDA of AED 5.6 billion (US$ 1.5 billion), a dramatic turnaround from a negative AED 43 million (US$ 12 million) EBITDA during the same period last year, illustrating its strong return to operating profitability.

The Group continued to maintain a healthy cash position which stood at AED 18.8 billion (US$ 5.1 billion) on 30 September 2021, compared to AED 19.8 billion (US$ 5.4 billion) as on 31 March 2021.

His Highness (HH) Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group said: “As we began our 2021-22 financial year, COVID-19 vaccination programs were being rolled out at unprecedented scale around the world. Across the Group, we saw operations and demand pick up as countries started to ease travel restrictions. This momentum accelerated over the summer and continues to grow steadily into the winter season and beyond.

“Our cargo transport and handling businesses continued to perform strongly, providing the bedrock upon which we were able to quickly reinstate passenger services. While there’s still some way to go before we restore our operations to pre-pandemic levels and return to profitability, we are well on the recovery path with healthy revenue and a solid cash balance at the end of our first half of 2021-22.

Sheikh Ahmed added: “We would like to thank our customers for their continued support, as well as all our aviation and travel industry stakeholders and partners for their efforts that have made it possible for international air travel to resume safely and smoothly.”

“Our ability to pivot and pull through the toughest period in our history to date, can be attributed to Emirates’ and dnata’s strong brands, high quality products and services, digital and innovation capabilities, and our amazing people. We intend to continue investing in these core areas to take our business into the future, together with the leaner processes and new technology capabilities that we’ve implemented in the past months.”

The Emirates Group has been able to tap on its own strong cash reserves, and access funding through its Owner and the broader financial community to support its business needs through the unprecedented challenges wrought on the aviation and travel industry by COVID-19. In the first half of 2021-22, its Owner further injected AED 2.5 billion (US$ 681 million) into Emirates by way of an equity investment and they continue to support the airline on its recovery path.

The Emirates Group’s employee base, compared to 31 March 2021, dropped marginally by 2% to an overall count of 73,571 at 30 September 2021. In line with the expected ramp up in capacity and business activities in the coming months, Emirates and dnata have embarked on targeted recruitment drives to support its requirements, prioritizing the rehiring of employees previously on furlough or made redundant.

Emirates airline

During the first six months of 2021-22, Emirates took delivery of 2 new A380s and retired 2 older aircraft from its fleet as part of its long-standing strategy to improve overall efficiency, minimize its emissions footprint, and provide high quality customer experiences.

With a clear focus on restoring its passenger network and connections through its Dubai hub, Emirates responded with agility whenever travel restrictions lifted to restart services or layer on additional flights. In July, it launched services to Miami, a new destination, and during the first half of 2021-22, Emirates also activated codeshare and interline partnerships with Airlink, Aeromar, Azul, Cemair and South African Airways to expand connectivity options for customers.

By September 30, 2021, the airline was operating passenger and cargo services to 139 airports, utilizing its entire Boeing 777 fleet and 37 A380s.

Emirates also continued to introduce initiatives that improve travel experience, boost customer confidence, and enable secure and efficient operations. In June, Emirates became the first airline to sign up for the worldwide implementation of the IATA Travel Pass, in addition its ongoing investments in additional biometric and other digital verification technologies at Dubai Airport.

For its premium customer and frequent flyers, Emirates reinstated more of its signatures Lounge and Chauffeur Drive services at key airports outside of Dubai, and it also launched an online subscription platform “Skywards+”, to offer its 27 million members easy access to customized rewards and privileges.

Overall capacity during the first six months of the year increased by 66% to 16.3 billion Available Tonne Kilometers (ATKM) due to a substantially expanded flight program as more countries eased travel and flight restrictions. Capacity measured in Available Seat Kilometers (ASKM), more than tripled by 250%, whilst passenger traffic carried measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometers (RPKM) was up by 335% with average Passenger Seat Factor recovering to 47.9%, compared with last year’s pandemic figure of 38.6%.

Emirates carried 6.1 million passengers between 1 April and 30 September 2021, up 319% from the same period last year. The volume of cargo uplifted at 1.1 million tonnes has increased by 39%, which brings the business back to 90% of pre-pandemic (2019) levels by volume handled. This shows Emirates Skycargo’s outstanding agility and ability to meet the requirements of its customers whether it be for the transport of vaccines and pharmaceuticals, essential goods like food and perishables, or champion horses and high performance cars.

In the first half of 2021-22, Emirates Skycargo boosted its pharma cool chain handling infrastructure with the addition of 94 cool room pallet positions to its existing EU GDP compliant infrastructure at Dubai airport. Emirates Skycargo continues to support the global roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines, having carried over 150 million doses through its Dubai hub by July 2021.

In the first half of the 2021-22 financial year, Emirates loss was AED 5.8 billion (US$ 1.6 billion), compared to last year’s loss of AED 12.6 billion (US$ 3.4 billion). Emirates revenue, including other operating income, of AED 21.7 billion (US$ 5.9 billion) was up 86% compared with the AED 11.7 billion (US$ 3.2 billion) recorded during the same period last year. The strong revenue recovery reflects quick return of passenger demand wherever flight and travel restrictions were eased around the world.

Emirates operating costs increased by 22% against an overall capacity growth of 66%. Fuel costs more than doubled compared to the same period last year. This was primarily due to an 81% higher fuel uplift in line with substantially increased flight operations during the six-month period up to end of September, and also an increase in average oil prices. Fuel, which was the largest component of the airline’s operating cost in pre-pandemic reporting cycles, accounted for 20% of operating costs compared to only 11% in the first six months of last year.

Driven by the significant increase in operations during the six months, Emirates’ EBITDA recovered to AED 5.0 billion (US$ 1.4 billion) compared to AED 290 million (US$ 79 million) for the same period last year.

dnata

dnata’s businesses in cargo and ground handling, catering and retail, and travel services saw demand return quickly wherever pandemic-related flight and travel restrictions were eased. Demonstrating the agility and capability of its highly skilled teams, dnata was able to respond quickly to customer needs with high quality services – from supporting its airline customers in reinstating flight operations safely and smoothly, to helping customers book their long-awaited travel plans.

dnata also continued to invest in critical infrastructure to deliver more efficient world class services to its customers. In the first six months of 2021-22, dnata opened a 5,000 square meter workshop dedicated to providing advanced maintenance for airside passenger buses at Dubai airport.

dnata’s revenue, including other operating income, was AED 3.7 billion (US$ 1 billion), a 55% increase compared to AED 2.4 billion (US$ 644 million) last year.

Overall profit for dnata is AED 85 million (US$ 23 million), compared to last year’s loss of AED 1.5 billion (US$ 396 million).

dnata’s airport operations remains the largest contributor to revenue with AED 2.5 billion (US$ 688 million), a 52% increase as compared to the same period last year. Across its operations, the number of aircraft handled by dnata increased sharply by 116% to 222,668, and it handled 1.4 million tonnes of cargo, up 9%.

dnata’s flight catering and retail operation, contributed AED 766 million (US$ 209 million) to its revenue, up 80%. The number of meals uplifted doubled to 16.6 million meals for the first half of the financial year after last year’s 8.3 million.

dnata’s travel division contributed AED 147 million (US$ 40 million) to revenue after AED 95 million (US$ 26 million) for the same period last year, up 55%. The division reported an underlying total transactional value (TTV) sales of AED 726 million (US$ 198 million), after an exceptional negative TTV of AED 246 million (US$ 67 million) for the same period last year which was caused by the significant volumes of refunds and pay-out in cancelled customer bookings at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.

Top Copyright Photo: Emirates Airline Airbus A380-861 A6-EEU (msn 147) (Dubai Expo – Oct 2021 – Mar 2022) ZRH (Rolf Wallner). Image: 955680.

Emirates aircraft slide show:

Emirates aircraft photo gallery:

Emirates to bring the Airbus A380 back to Australia

Emirates has made this announcement:

With Australia’s borders set to re-open to international travelers from November, Emirates is welcoming the move by enhancing its operations to the country to meet pent up demand for travel into and out of Australia. With vaccination rates in New South Wales having reached their target, and Victoria being not far behind, the two states will allow vaccinated travelers to return to Australia without quarantine.

In response to the easing of travel restrictions, from November 2, 2021 Emirates is stepping up the frequency on flights EK414/415 between Dubai and Sydney to daily operated by a Boeing 777-300ER. Flights to Melbourne will operate as a four-weekly service as EK408/409, with the potential to increase in line with demand.

In another positive sign that the recovery is well underway for Australia, capacity on flights to Sydney and Melbourne will return to 100%, allowing 354 passengers across all cabins to travel on its flights. Australian citizens, permanent residents and their immediate family members will be able to enjoy unrestricted travel once again to and from the two points for the first time since the pandemic began, whether traveling abroad to global destinations for leisure or finally traveling home to visit family or friends, as long as they are vaccinated against COVID-19 with a TGA-approved vaccine.

From December 1, 2021 Emirates’ flagship A380 aircraft, will also return to the Australian skies once again, serving the Dubai-Sydney route, on a daily basis. The much-loved aircraft will offer 516 seats in a three-class configuration, with 426 seats in Economy Class, in addition to its premium cabins, with 76 and 14 seats in Business Class and First Class, respectively.

Emirates and flydubai celebrate four years of strategic partnership

Emirates and flydubai mark four years of strategic partnership. The Dubai-based airlines joined hands in 2017 and since then, more than 8.3 million passengers have enjoyed seamless connectivity across the joint network. Emirates Skywards – the loyalty program for Emirates and flydubai – continues to grow its global membership base, offering more than 27 million members exclusive rewards and benefits.

Photo: Emirates Airline Airbus A380-861 A6-EEU (msn 147) (Dubai Expo – Oct 2021 – Mar 2022) ZRH (Rolf Wallner). Image: 955680.

Copyright Photo: Right side: Emirates Airline Airbus A380-861 A6-EEU (msn 147) (Dubai Expo – Oct 2021 – Mar 2022) ZRH (Rolf Wallner). Image: 955680.

Photo: Emirates Airline Airbus A380-861 A6-EVE (msn 250) (ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021) LHR (Antony J. Best). Image: 955666.

Copyright Photo: Emirates Airline Airbus A380-861 A6-EVE (msn 250) (ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021) LHR (Antony J. Best). Image: 955666.

QANTAS and Emirates extend their partnership

QANTAS Airways and Emirates Airline have announced they will extend their cornerstone partnership for another five years, meaning customers and frequent flyers of both airlines will have access to an expansive joint network, and millions of reward seats to travel across Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the UK.

The agreement was signed by Emirates President Tim Clark and Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce at the International Air Transport Association Annual General Meeting in Boston.

The airlines have existing approvals from regulators to operate a joint business until March 2023. Qantas and Emirates will seek re-authorization from relevant regulators, including the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, to continue the core elements of the partnership including coordination of pricing, schedules, sales and tourism marketing on approved routes until 2028. The deal includes an option to renew for another five years beyond that.

Together, both airlines are making millions of reward seats available for frequent flyers to access more than 100 destinations to using their Qantas Points or Skywards Miles, which many have been stockpiling throughout the pandemic.

For Emirates customers, the deal provides access to over 55 Australian destinations that Emirates does not fly to, and Qantas customers are able to fly on Emirates to Dubai and access over 50 cities in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, that Qantas does not fly to.

As Qantas and Emirates recover from the impact that COVID-19 has had on their respective businesses, the partnership will continue to deliver financial upside for both airlines.

This year, Emirates is celebrating 25 years of flying to Australia, transporting more than 39 million passengers between Australian cities, including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, and other destinations via its Dubai hub since 1996. Emirates has continued to display its strong commitment to the Australian market increasing the size of its operations from three flights a week when it initially launched in 1996 in Melbourne, peaking to over 100 flights per week prior to the pandemic.

Benefits of Qantas and Emirates partnership

Since 2013, more than 13 million passengers have travelled on the joint network, traveling more than 87 billon kilometers.

On average more than 13,000 Emirates passengers have travelled on Qantas’ domestic and regional services within Australia each month.

Together, Qantas and Emirates provide customers with more than 100 codeshare destinations including:

38 codeshare destinations in the UK and Europe, including Rome, Zurich and Barcelona
55 codeshare destinations in Australia and New Zealand
13 codeshare destinations in Africa and the Middle East
2 codeshare destinations in Asia

Photo: Emirates Airline Airbus A380-861 A6-EEU (msn 147) (Be part of the magic – Dubai Expo) CDG (Manuel Negrerie). Image: 955380.

Copyright Photo: Emirates Airline Airbus A380-861 A6-EEU (msn 147) (Be part of the magic – Dubai Expo) CDG (Manuel Negrerie). Image: 955380.

The painting of A6-EEU:

Emirates unveils an A380 “Dubai Expo” special livery, will restore the Gatwick route on December 10

Emirates, the Premier Partner and Official Airline of Expo 2020 Dubai, has revealed a head-turning A380 livery dedicated to further carrying the global event’s messages worldwide.

The special livery is painted on the pictured A6-EEU.

A bold departure from the airline’s traditional white and gold paint scheme, this bright blue aircraft livery features large-scale graphics in vivid green, orange, pink, purple and red, which run across the fuselage and all the way up to the tail and fin interlaced with the distinct ring-shaped Expo 2020 Dubai logo. Special ‘Dubai Expo’ and ‘Be Part of the Magic’ messages run across both sides of the A380 fuselage. The engine cowls also carry the Expo 2020 Dubai messages and dates of the event.

In addition, the brave Burj Khalifa stuntwoman who appeared in the recent viral Emirates ad, carries an invitation to visit the event on both sides of the aircraft, holding a message board that says: ‘See you there’ and ‘Dubai Expo Oct-Mar 2022’.

The iconic Emirates red belly branding, which can be only seen when the aircraft is flying overhead, has been replaced by the opportunity themed orange ‘Dubai Expo’ branding, further increasing the event’s visibility and awareness as it flies to the airline’s A380 network over the course of the next 6 months.

The new A380 livery was designed, painted, produced and installed in-house by the teams at Emirates. The livery was not just a decal, but a complete paint project, and is by far the largest one the airline has ever embarked on. A great deal of planning and ingenuity was involved to ensure the distinct livery design was brought to life and flawlessly executed.

The paint on A6-EEU, the aircraft chosen for the livery, was completely stripped. After that, eleven colors were applied on the aircraft in a careful, methodically sequenced manner. A ‘wild spray method’, electrostatic spray guns and conventional cup guns were used to put on the different colors, using over 2,500 sqm of tracing and masking material. All of the stencils and tracing guides were produced in-house by the airline’s UV printer and graphics workshop, and took numerous hours to fabricate and complete. The Emirates Engineering Aircraft Appearance Centre teams skillfully worked through the challenges of fine-tuning the outlines and masking to convert the designs onto a three dimensional aircraft, in addition to managing the contrasting colors and intricate background shades in this unique livery.

Decals were then applied on the engine cowls and, as well as the image of the Emirates Cabin crew holding the message boards adjacent to the aircraft’s exits.

The process of painting the livery design and applying the decals took 16 days and 4,379 man-hours to complete.

Emirates has a long tradition of showcasing special liveries on its Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 fleet, and in the last five years alone, close to 50 unique designs and 100 liveries have been brought to life by the team at the airline. Special liveries have helped pay a special tribute and carry the legacy of the late HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan; bring sports fans closer to their favorite clubs, players and global tournaments; spread the UAE’s message of tolerance and multi-culturalism; raise awareness of the illegal wildlife trade, and much more. The innovative work done on the liveries has kept travelers, plane-spotters and the general public looking to the skies for inspiration.

The new Expo 2020 Dubai livery will appear on three Emirates A380 aircraft to help visually tell the story and reaffirm the themes of one of the largest global events to take place since the onset of the pandemic. The distinctive blue Expo aircraft will join the 40 other special liveries dedicated to Expo 2020 Dubai, which have collectively flown to over 130 destinations across the Emirates network since 2018.

The new livery will wow travelers and drive the Expo 2020 Dubai message when it heads to Los Angeles on 29 September.

Expo 2020 Dubai is the first World Expo ever hosted in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region, and will run from October 2021 to March 2022. Its six-month program is packed with experiences to suit all ages and interests, including a rich line-up of themed weeks, entertainment, and edutainment. Art and culture fans as well as food and technology enthusiasts can explore exhibits, workshops, performances, live shows and more. Visitors can also drop by their national pavilion for a taste of home or experience the 190 other country pavilions. Emirates will be showcasing its own pavilion focused on the future of commercial aviation.

In other news, the company will restore the Dubai – London Gatwick route on December 10.

Emirates becomes first airline to implement IATA Travel Pass across six continents

Emirates is the first airline to implement the International Air Transport Association’s IATA Travel Pass solution on six continents as it rolls out this digital health pass to customers at all its destinations.

Following successful trials in April on select routes from its Dubai hub, Emirates gradually expanded the IATA Travel Pass pilot to customers on 12 routes in June and the airline has now signed a contract with IATA to implement the solution across its global network.

Currently available to Emirates customers traveling from 50 cities, the roll-out across all 120+ Emirates destinations is expected to be completed by October.

Key features of the IATA Travel Pass

Repository of the latest travel requirements: it enables passengers to find accurate information on travel, testing, and vaccine requirements for their journey
Registry of testing centres: it enables passengers to access certified COVID-19 testing centres at their departure location which meet the requirements of their destination.
Digital documentation: the app allows passengers to manage their travel documentation digitally. From receiving test results and vaccination certificates directly from authorised labs and test centres, to conveniently and securely sharing these documents with authorities and airlines to facilitate travel.

Travelers today can access over 1,500 COVID-19 test labs via the IATA Travel Pass app, and this number continues to grow. EU and UK citizens can register their vaccine certificate on the app, and work is underway to enable a broader range of verified digital travel documents to linked to, or uploaded to the app. Travelers can download the app and register themselves by creating their digital identify using their passport.

Future enhancements include enabling customers to share their digital documents for travel before they reach the airport, such as COVID vaccination certificates and test results, and these will be securely and automatically reflected in Emirates’ check in systems to facilitate a smooth and hassle-free airport experience.