Tag Archives: Emirates Airline

Emirates Group announces half-year performance for 2019-20, with AED 1.2 billion profit, 7.9% increase in passengers carried to Dubai

Emirates Group has issued this statement:

The Emirates Group has announced its half-year results for its 2019-20 financial year.

Group revenue was AED 53.3 billion (US$ 14.5 billion) for the first six months of 2019-20, down 2% from AED 54.4 billion (US$ 14.8 billion) during the same period last year. This slight revenue decline was mainly due to planned capacity reductions during the 45-day Southern Runway closure at Dubai International airport (DXB), and unfavourable currency movements in Europe, Australia, South Africa, India, and Pakistan.

Profitability was up 8% compared to the same period last year, with the Group reporting a 2019-20 half-year net profit of AED 1.2 billion (US$ 320 million). The profit improvement was primarily due to the decline in fuel prices of 9% compared to the same period last year, however the gain from lower fuel costs were partially offset by negative currency movements.

The Group’s cash position on 30th September 2019 stood at AED 23.0 billion (US$ 6.3 billion), compared to AED 22.2 billion (US$ 6.0 billion) as at 31^st March 2019.

Group: Revenue down 2% to AED 53.3 billion (US$ 14.5 billion), and profit of AED 1.2 billion (US$ 320 million), up 8%. Results impacted by Dubai International Airport (DXB) runway closure, decline in fuel cost, unfavourable currency movements, and bankruptcy of Thomas Cook.
Emirates: Revenue down 3% to AED 47.3 billion (US$ 12.9 billion), and profit increase of 282% to AED 862 million (US$ 235 million). Improved seat load factor of 81.1%, up 2.3%pts, with 29.6 million passengers carried. Dubai’s strong attraction as a destination sees the airline carrying 7.9% more customers to its hub city compared to same period last year.

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“The Emirates Group delivered a steady and positive performance in the first half of 2019-20, by adapting our strategies to navigate the tough trading conditions and social-political uncertainty in many markets around the world. Both Emirates and dnata worked hard to minimise the impact of the planned runway renovations at DXB on our business and on our customers. We also kept a tight rein on controllable costs and continued to drive efficiency improvement, while ensuring that our resources were deployed nimbly to capitalise on areas of opportunity.

“The lower fuel cost was a welcome respite as we saw our fuel bill drop by AED 2.0 billion compared to the same period last year. However, unfavourable currency movements wiped off approximately AED 1.2 billion from our profits.

“The global outlook is difficult to predict, but we expect the airline and travel industry to continue facing headwinds over the next six months with stiff competition adding downward pressure on margins. As a Group we remain focussed on developing our business, and we will continue to invest in new capabilities that empower our people, and enable us to offer even better products, services, and experiences for our customers.”

His Highness (HH) Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group

The Emirates Group’s employee base remained unchanged compared to 31 March 2019, at an overall average staff count of 105,315. This is in line with the company’s planned capacity and business activities, and also reflects the various internal programmes to improve efficiency through the implementation of new technology and workflows.

Emirates airline

During the first six months of 2019-20, Emirates received 3 Airbus A380s, with 3 more new aircraft scheduled to be delivered before the end of the 2019-20 financial year. It also retired 6 older aircraft from its fleet with a further 2 to be returned by 31 March 2020. The airline’s long-standing strategy to invest in the most advanced wide-body aircraft enables it to improve overall efficiency, minimise its emissions footprint, and provide high quality customer experiences.

Emirates continues to offer ever better connections for its customers across the globe with just one stop in Dubai. In the first six months of its financial year, Emirates added two new passenger routes: Dubai-Bangkok-Phnom Penh, and Dubai-Porto (Portugal). As of 30 September, Emirates’ global network spanned 158 destinations in 84 countries. Its fleet stood at 267 aircraft including freighters.

Emirates also further developed its partnership with flydubai. Both airlines continued to leverage their complementary networks to optimise flight schedules and offer new city-pair connections through Dubai, as well as open new routes including Naples (Italy) and Tashkent (Uzbekistan) in the first half of 2019-20. Customers also enjoy even more benefits with a single loyalty programme under Emirates Skywards, and passengers connecting between Emirates and flydubai can experience seamless transits with 22 flydubai flights now operating from Emirates Terminal 3 at DXB.

Overall capacity during the first six months of the year declined by 7% to 29.7 billion Available Tonne Kilometres (ATKM) mainly due to the DXB runway closure and reduction in fleet during this 45-day period. Capacity measured in Available Seat Kilometres (ASKM), shrunk by 5%, whilst passenger traffic carried measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPKM) was down by 2% with average Passenger Seat Factor rising to 81.1%, compared with last year’s 78.8%.

Emirates carried 29.6 million passengers between 1 April and 30 September 2019, down 2% from the same period last year, however, passenger yield increased by 1% period-on-period. The volume of cargo uplifted at 1.2 million tonnes has decreased by 8% while yield declined by 3%. This reflects the tough business environment for air freight in the context of global trade tensions and unrest in some key cargo markets.

In the first half of the 2019-20 financial year, Emirates net profit was AED 862 million (US$ 235 million), up 282%, compared to last year. Emirates revenue, including other operating income, of AED 47.3 billion (US$ 12.9 billion) was down 3% compared with the AED 48.9 billion (US$ 13.3 billion) recorded during the same period last year. This result was driven by increased agility in capacity deployment, with healthy customer demand for Emirates’ products driving improved seat load factors and better margins.

Emirates operating costs shrunk by 8% against the overall capacity decrease of 7%. On average, fuel costs were 13% lower compared to the same period last year, this was largely due to a decrease in oil prices (down 9% compared to same period last year), as well as a lower fuel uplift due to reduced capacity during 45-day runway closure at DXB. Fuel remained the largest component of the airline’s cost, accounting for 32% of operating costs compared with 33% in the first six months of last year.

Top Copyright Photo: Emirates Airline Airbus A380-861 A6-EUA (msn 211) AMS (Ton Jochems). Image: 948121.

Emirates aircraft slide show:

Emirates announces its first Airbus A380 service to Cairo

Emirates will be operating its Airbus A380 service to Cairo International Airport on October 2, 2019, making it the first scheduled commercial airline to operate an A380 flight into Egypt. With the intent to make the world’s largest commercial passenger jet a part of the airline’s scheduled service to Cairo, this inaugural flight will re-affirm the airport’s infrastructure readiness ahead of regular A380 operations.

The Emirates A380 service will operate as EK 927 and EK 928, departing Dubai at 08:15hrs and arriving in Cairo at 10:00hrs. The flight will depart Cairo at 13:15hrs arriving in Dubai at 18:45hrs on the same day. All timings are local.

Emirates started operations to Cairo in April 1986 with three flights a week and since then, has carried more than 7.3 million passengers to and from Cairo. Operations have steadily grown with increases in both frequency and capacity between Cairo and Dubai to match customer demand. Today, Emirates operates 21 weekly flights between Cairo and Dubai. Earlier this year, Emirates announced it will increase the frequency of flights between Dubai and Cairo, adding four additional flights a week to its existing thrice-daily service, starting 28 October 2019, taking the total number of weekly Emirates flights serving Cairo to 25. Globally, the airline employs more than 2,000 Egyptian nationals in a variety of roles across the Emirates Group, including over 1,000 cabin crew.

Emirates aircraft photo gallery:

Emirates ‘scores a try’ with new Dubai Rugby Sevens A380 livery marking the flagship event’s 50th anniversary

Emirates has made this announcement concerning Airbus A380 A6-EEV:

Emirates, the title sponsor of the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens, has revealed a brand new livery dedicated to the milestone 50th staging of Dubai’s flagship sporting event, and one of the key tournaments on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens series.

The new livery serves as a symbol of the airline’s commitment to the long-standing Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens and features a large scale version of male and female rugby players in action against a red backdrop.

As a nod to the multi-cultural makeup of rugby-loving nations that compete in the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens, the airline called on its own cabin crew rugby teams, the Flying Muppets and EK Firebirds, to welcome the new livery.

The two squads ran through drills and scrums around the aircraft as it was being pushed out of the Emirates Engineering hangar.

The Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens themed A380 livery took flight to Glasgow on 20th July, and is scheduled to visit rugby loving nations over the course of the next few months.

Gary Chapman, President of Emirates Group Services & dnata said: “This livery is one of the many ways we are celebrating the milestone 50th anniversary of the Emirates Airline Rugby Sevens. For the rest of the year it will fly across the world, inspiring both new and diehard rugby fans everywhere to share in the excitement. With three days of exhilarating rugby action, fantastic family activities and incredible entertainment from pop icon Kylie Minogue, it’s going to be the perfect celebration of Dubai’s favourite sporting event.”

As the longest running sports event in the Middle East, the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens, taking place from December 5-7, 2019, has grown to become one of the world’s premier rugby events, hosting the first leg of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series and the second leg of the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series. It also plays host to an ever-popular and growing international Invitation Tournament, featuring rugby and netball teams from all over the world, with over 300 teams participating across all age groups. This year, over 100,000 fans and spectators will pass through the Sevens gates across the three days. The 50th edition of Dubai’s largest sporting and social event will also see international pop star Kylie Minogue headlining a concert on Friday, December 6, 2019.

Emirates connection to the game of rugby goes back to 1987, when the airline became the Dubai Rugby Sevens event’s Official Sponsor. Emirates has focused its efforts on supporting rugby as a valuable way of engaging with customers and fans of the sport.

In 2019, Emirates will be celebrating another highlight on the rugby calendar, as the official worldwide partner and official airline of the Rugby World Cup, being staged in Japan. Emirates currently sponsors the World Rugby Referee’s and Match Officials in addition to our partnership with the UAE Rugby Association.

All photos by Emirates.

Emirates to launch services to Mexico City via Barcelona

Emirates has announced its plan to launch a new daily service from Dubai (DXB) to Mexico City International Airport (MEX), via the Spanish city of Barcelona (BCN), starting on December 9, 2019.

The new route will be operated with a two-class Emirates Boeing 777-200LR which offers 38 Business Class seats in a 2-2-2 configuration and 264 seats in Economy Class. The new 777 flight will also offer up to 14 tons of cargo, opening up access to more global markets for Mexican exports such as avocados, berries, mangoes, automotive parts and medical supplies. Emirates SkyCargo has been flying freighters to/from Mexico City since 2014 already and in the last year carried over 22,500 tons of cargo on the route.

Mexico City, the first destination in Mexico to be served by Emirates, is the largest city of Mexico and the most populous city in North America.

Emirates flight EK 255 will depart Dubai at 03:30 local time, arriving in Barcelona at 08:00 before departing again at 09:55 and arriving into Mexico City at 16:15 on the same day. The return flight EK256 will depart Mexico City at 19:40 local time, arriving in Barcelona the next day at 13:25. EK256 will depart once again from Barcelona at 15:10 bound for Dubai where it will arrive at 00:45 the following day, facilitating convenient onward connections to numerous destinations in India, South East Asia and the Middle East.

* Dubai Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing (DTCM)

Emirates’ US-bound passengers soon to have Wi-Fi, mobile connectivity and Live TV over the North Pole

Emirates has made this announcement:

Emirates’ passengers bound for the US will soon be able to enjoy Wi-Fi, mobile service connectivity and Live TV broadcast, even when flying 40,000 feet over the North Pole and Arctic circle.

Emirates has led the world with inflight connectivity, with every aircraft connected for Wi-Fi, voice and SMS services. However on its flights to the US, which often travel over the polar region, passengers can find themselves without connectivity for up to 4 hours. This is due to the fact that most satellites that connect aircraft are geostationary, located over the equator, and aircraft antennae cannot see the satellite when in the far north, due to the earth’s curvature.

Emirates partner Inmarsat will soon solve this problem with the addition of two elliptical orbit satellites, thus providing coverage over the North Pole by 2022.

The new satellites will also provide Live TV broadcast on Emirates flights allowing customers to watch live news or sports over the polar region. Emirates’ Live TV is currently available on 175 aircraft including all Boeing 777 and select Airbus 380s.

A popular service amongst Emirates’ customers, over 1 million Wi-Fi connections are made onboard the airline’s flights in an average month.

Wi-Fi connectivity is available on all Emirates aircraft. Customers in all cabin classes receive 20MB of free Wi-Fi data or unlimited use of messaging apps for 2 hours allowing them to log on and stay in touch with friends, family or colleagues. Emirates Skywards members enjoy special benefits depending on their membership tier and class of travel, including free Wi-Fi when travelling in First Class or Business Class.

Emirates continually invests in improving bandwidth on board by upgrading the connectivity solution on the fleet. The airline has been at the forefront of innovation when it comes to inflight connectivity and entertainment. It was the first airline to allow mobile phone use inflight in 2008, and the first to install TV screens in every seat on every aircraft in its fleet in 1992. Today, the airline provides one of the most comprehensive and state-of-the-art entertainment and connectivity services in the skies. ice, Emirates’ award-winning inflight entertainment system, offers over 4,000 channels of entertainment, including over 1,000 movies from around the world. This unmatched variety of content will continue to grow, offering Emirates customers even more choice.

Emirates and chocolate

Emirates made this announcement:

Every year, at least 11 million pieces of gourmet chocolate are sourced from around the world to be served in Emirates’ premium cabins, in addition to a variety of chocolate desserts and treats in all classes. These sweet treats complete the Emirates fine dining experience prepared by award-winning chefs.

In First and Business Class, Emirates lets its customers sample pralines and bonbons from 8 gourmet chocolatiers from 6 chocolate loving nations. The brands were selected to give Emirates customers a variety of premium chocolates from around the world including local home-grown brands from the UAE, where the airline is based. Each chocolate brand is on board for 3 months before a new selection is introduced to delight frequent flyers.

This includes:

Godiva from Belgium, an Emirates staple on board for over 20 years
Valrhona from France, who have been producing chocolates since 1922
Canonica from Switzerland, who provide handmade Swiss chocolates
Pacari from Ecuador, which gives Emirates customers an organic and vegan-friendly alternative
Neuhaus from Belgium, the inventor of the Belgian Praline
Hotel Chocolat from the UK, a British cocoa grower and chocolatier
Forrey & Galland from the UAE, who make handmade chocolate following French traditions
Coco Jalila, also from the UAE, who create classic European-style filled chocolates with an Arabic flair

Chocolates are served on all Emirates flights and is the finishing touch to a destination-inspired, multi-course meal on board. The chocolate pieces are served in pairs and the selection includes: Coffee Cream, Almond Praline, 70% Guanaja dark chocolate, White Lemon Truffle, Dark Cocoa Nibs, Pistachio Praline and Chocolate with Cuzco Salt and Nibs.

In First Class, chocolate lovers can also look into their personal goodie baskets for more cocoa treats. Among the various snacks is Butler’s Chocolate from Ireland. Emirates offers a variety of flavours from the Butlers signature solid chocolate bar collection, including Mixed Berries white chocolate and Honeycomb Crisp milk chocolate.

Across all classes, customers craving a chocolate fix can enjoy chocolate desserts and hot chocolate from the menu. On longer routes, Emirates’ friendly cabin crew offer chocolate bars in a snack tray and chocolate lollipops are offered to children during festive celebrations. At Emirates’ A380 Onboard lounge, customers can help themselves to M&Ms, chocolate cakes and chocolate mini treats.

The world’s shortest Airbus A380 flight: Dubai – Muscat

Emirates is giving travellers to and from Oman more choice, comfort and luxury with the first arrivals of its double daily A380 services to Muscat. Flights EK 862 and EK 864 were each welcomed with water cannon salutes upon arrival, ushering in the new services to Oman’s capital, Muscat.

Shortest A380 flight fun facts

The Muscat A380 flights will fly approximately 340 kilometres each way, making them the shortest A380 flights in the world. That is also shorter than the internal wiring of the A380, which when stretched from end to end reaches a distance of over 500km.

The double daily A380 operations underscore Muscat International Airport’s modern infrastructure and readiness to handle aircraft operations. Over 4.7 million passengers have flown on Emirates between Muscat and Dubai since 1993, equal to the capacity of more than 9,000 Emirates A380s.

Both A380s flying to Muscat will be operated in a three-class configuration, with 429 seats in Economy Class on the lower deck, and 76 flat-bed seats in Business Class and 14 First Class Private Suites on the upper deck.

Passengers travelling across all three classes will enjoy the airline’s award-winning inflight entertainment system, ice. With over 1,500 films across all genres to enjoy on ice, customers will have to fly over 3,000 times between Dubai and Muscat on the Emirates A380 to watch the complete ice film catalogue.

Over 25,000 catering items are loaded on the Emirates A380 for services between Dubai and Muscat, ensuring that customers can enjoy and savour the meals and amenities onboard.

The flight time between Dubai and Muscat, approximately 40 minutes, is 5 minutes longer than the time taken to clean an A380 by a team of 42 people. The twice daily A380 services operate on EK 862/863 and EK 864/865. EK862 departs Dubai at 0825hrs, arriving in Muscat at 0940hrs. The return flight, EK 863, departs Muscat at 1115hrs, arriving in Dubai in the afternoon at 1225hrs. Emirates’ late afternoon flight EK 864 departs Dubai at 1610hrs and arrives in Muscat at 1725hrs. EK 865 departs Muscat at 1905hrs, arriving in Dubai at 2015hrs. Along with the A380 services, EK 866/867, the early morning flight, is operated with Emirates’ modern Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.

Emirates has carried over 150,000 tons of cargo between Muscat and Dubai since 2008, which is more than the weight of 260 A380s when each aircraft is at its maximum weight.

Emirates operates three daily services between Dubai and Muscat, connecting passengers to over 150 global destinations in the Far East, Europe and the US. The airline is the world’s largest operator of the A380, with 111 double-decker aircraft flying to 57 cities from Dubai.

*Flight timings will vary slightly during the winter schedule starting in late October.

Emirates expands services for busy Hajj season, will reduce single-use plastic

Emirates has made this announcement:

Emirates will be expanding its services to Jeddah and Medina with an additional 46 flights to help facilitate travel for Hajj pilgrims heading to and from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The flights will be operated between July 27 and August 22, 2019 to support the Hajj journey to the Holy City of Mecca.

The services will run in parallel with Emirates’ regularly scheduled services to Jeddah and Medina, and will be available to travellers holding a valid Hajj visa. This year, Emirates expects thousands of pilgrims to travel on its services for Hajj, coming from top inbound destinations such as Pakistan, the United States, Senegal, the UK, Nigeria, Indonesia, South Africa and Ivory Coast.

Hajj centric onboard services

On the ground in Dubai, Emirates has commissioned a dedicated team to manage check-in and transfers for the seamless movement of Hajj passengers leaving from and transiting in Dubai.

In the air, Emirates has planned several initiatives that uphold the values and traditions of pilgrims when travelling for Hajj. Extra provisions will be made to accommodate Hajj traveller needs such as performing ablutions and other cleansing rituals as well as advising passengers when they have entered Al Miqat zones to ensure readiness for Ihram (the point when pilgrims enter a state of sanctity) through dedicated passenger announcements. This is in addition to other service and product measures such as providing extra blankets and unperfumed hot towels. Emirates’ award winning ice system will also feature a special Hajj video that covers safety, formalities and information about performing the Hajj pilgrimage. Pilgrims will also be able to tune into the Holy Quran channel during their journey.

On flights from Jeddah, Hajj passengers can bring up to 5 litres of holy water (Zamzam) which will be placed in special areas in the cargo hold.

Photo: Emirates.

In other news, Emirates has made a network-wide commitment to reduce single-use plastics on board its aircraft. As of June 1st, eco-friendly paper straws have been introduced and all Emirates flights will soon be plastic straw-free.

The airline has been working on various long-term sustainability initiatives. In addition to plastic straws, plastic swizzle sticks and stirrers will also be replaced with eco-friendly alternatives by the end of the year. From August, plastic bags used for Inflight Retail purchases will also be replaced with paper bags. These initiatives will remove an estimated 81.7 million single-use plastic items from landfill each year.

Trials have been conducted on Emirates flights to explore various recycling initiatives on board and Emirates staff and cabin crew constantly give feedback and suggestions on other environmentally friendly ideas. As part of its long-term vision and fuelled by a cabin crew member’s suggestion, the airline has been segregating large plastic bottles on board to be recycled in Dubai and the rest of the world. This diverts an estimated 3 tonnes or about 150,000 plastic bottles from landfill in Dubai each month.

A full review of the plastics on board has been conducted and over the next few months, the airline will gradually implement other initiatives to tackle plastic waste.

The initiatives are part of the airline’s ongoing sustainability efforts. In 2017, Emirates introduced ecoTHREAD™ blankets made from recycled plastic bottles for its Economy Class cabin. Each blanket is made from 28 recycled plastic bottles and by the end of this year, Emirates would have saved 88 million plastic bottles from landfill from this initiative alone.

Emirates brings the Airbus A380 to Amman and Boston

Emirates has made this announcement:

Emirates’ first scheduled Airbus A380 services have just touched down in Boston and Amman for the summer season peak.

The first scheduled A380 service landed in Amman on June 1 at 1555hrs local time and the second A380 service from Dubai to Boston landed at 1350hrs local time. Led by Captain Arif Al Reyami and Jordanian First Officer Laith Saudi, the A380 Amman service was greeted by a traditional water cannon salute.

Emirates will operate its A380 aircraft to and from Amman until October 26 to cater to the increased demand for travel during the peak summer period. The airline has adjusted its schedule on one of its three daily flights (EK 903/904) with the A380.

Emirates A380 operations to Boston also coincide with high customer demand during the peak summer and winter travel season and will see overall capacity increase around 45% between June 1 to September 30, 2019 and December 1, 2019 to January 31, 2020. The move to deploy the popular A380 on both routes demonstrates the airline’s flexibility to optimise the usage of its fleet to cater to passenger demand within its network.

Emirates has been flying to Jordan for over 33 years, and has carried over 5 million passengers to and from Amman. Emirates has been serving Boston since 2014, consistently growing passenger demand over the past five years to and through Dubai. With the A380 being introduced for the summer, travellers have more choice to explore unique A380 destinations on the Emirates network, as well as experience the ultimate in travel comfort on the airline’s flagship aircraft.

The Emirates A380 flying to Amman is set in a three-class configuration, and will have 427 seats in Economy Class on the lower deck over the months of June and July, 76 flat-bed Business Class seats and 14 luxurious First Class Suites. First and Business Class customers can catch up, network and enjoy an extensive range of beverages and delicacies in the Onboard Lounge.

The Emirates A380 flying to Boston is also set in a three class cabin configuration, offering 14 private suites in First Class, 76 seats in Business Class, and 426 spacious seats in Economy Class. First Class passengers can relax and revitalize in one of the two A380 Shower Spas, and First and Business Class passengers are welcome in the Onboard Lounge to enjoy canapés and beverages prepared by the onboard bartender.

The Emirates A380 to Boston will operate until September 30, 2019 and will then resume on December 1, 2019 to January 31, 2020. Emirates flight EK 237 leaves Dubai at 0815hrs and lands in Boston at 1350hrs. EK 238 departs Boston at 2310hrs and arrives in Dubai at 1925hrs the next day.

All photos by Emirates.

Video: The game-changing Boeing 777 First Class suite

A new video from Emirates:

Take a seat on the real throne – our game-changing Boeing 777 First Class suite, rated the World’s Best First Class at the 2019 TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice® awards for Airlines.