Emirates posts 24th consecutive profit year against global trends

EMIRATES POSTS 24TH CONSECUTIVE ANNUAL PROFIT, ADDS ROUTES AND AIRCRAFT

Dubais award winning national airline, Emirates, has according to a regular source at their Kampala office closed another year of uninterrupted profits, for the past 24 years the norm for this global airline.
This year we added 11 destinations to our network and are now fast becoming the biggest international airline. Emirates got 22 new planes, all wide bodies, and we exceeded 34 million passengers transported safely to their final Emirates destinations. We are proud, very proud, that we are adding another about 4.500 African recruits to our cabin and cockpit crews this year. Wherever Emirates flies in Africa, there are opportunities for young people starting a career or for professionals looking for greener pastures. Here in Uganda we fly daily nonstop between Entebbe and Dubai and this has made us one of the most popular airlines coming to Entebbe. The news now out are good news for our passengers because we can grow even more in the new financial year said the contact in a conversation earlier today.
From a media release, availed at the same time, it was evident that the Emirates Group made an overall profit of US Dollars 629 million, generated from a record breaking revenue of over 18.4 billion US Dollars inspite of the heavy impact of sharply risen aviation fuel prices. Passenger numbers rose by 8 percent on a year by year comparison and the average load factor achieved by the airline reportedly stands at 80 percent, the same as last year while notable the loadfactors for the airlines First and Business Class increased by 1.9 percent.
H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Emirates Group, was quoted in the media release as having said: Achieving our 24th consecutive year of profit and maintaining an upward growth trajectory is an achievement that belies the industry norm. Throughout the 2011-12 financial year the Group has collectively invested close to AED 14 billion (US$ 3.8 billion) in new products. This investment has garnered new customers and increased our international presence. Successful business growth is not a matter of luck, it is the result of sustained and calculated investment. Every dirham that we earn is strategically ploughed back into our business and it is this foresight that has allowed the Group to maintain such strong and consistent profitability. In the last five years, Emirates capacity measured in Available Seat Kilometres, has increased by almost 100 percent facilitating new trade links and creating a new flow of passenger traffic. Being the first to capitalize on these new opportunities has allowed us to gain a distinct competitive advantage, one that we intend to maintain, clearly serving notice to competitors in the Gulf and elsewhere around the world that Emirates expansion drive was to continue relentlessly in the next and future financial years.
Towards that end H.H. Sheikh Ahmed added, according to the details at hand: We move into the new financial year with cautious optimism, navigating our way through the difficult economic climate with a clear vision for our continued success. We understand that succeeding in this industry requires determination and we are unapologetic about our drive to be the best. We are never complacent, always striving for perfection and always acutely aware that things can be done better. Customers expectations only get higher and it is up to us to ensure that we move upwards with them. With the help of our 63,000 strong multicultural workforce we have no doubt that the years ahead will again be more profitable than the last.
Emirates currently has a further 232 aircraft, all wide bodies, on order and the airlines hub is now set to overtake London Heathrow as the busiest international airport over the coming year, resulting in corresponding upgrades and expansion of terminals and passenger lounges at Dubai International Airport, where a new dedicated A380 terminal building is also nearing completion.
Impressive results by any standards, leading this correspondent to conclude that other airlines need to sit up and take notice, because clearly, notice has been served by Emirates loud and clear to become the world number one airline.
For more details on the annual results visit www.theemiratesgroup.com/annualresults