Emirates posts positive results – for 24th consecutive year

Bucking the industry trend, the 2011-12 financial year has been a strong one for Emirates SkyCargo with revenues of US$ 2.6 billion an 8.4 % increase on last year thanks to an increase in freight tonnage and freight yield per Freight Tonne Kilometre (FTKM) which rose by 5.4%. Contributing 16.2 % of Emirates’ total transport revenue, Emirate SkyCargo continues to play an integral role in the company’s expanding operations, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman and chief executive of Emirates Airline said. At the end of the financial year, Emirates SkyCargo freighter fleet numbered eight – two on wet lease and six on operating lease. This as the Emirates Group announced its 24th consecutive year of profit and company-wide growth amidst unprecedented economic pressure and record-high fuel prices. In its just-released 2011-12 Annual Report, the company posted a US$ 629 million net profit, with dnata marking its highest-ever profit in 52 years of operation. Forging ahead with its expansion plans, Emirates received 22 new aircraft during the year including 14 Boeing 777-300ERs, two Boeing 777Fs and six A380s from Airbus, the highest number of aircraft received in a single year of operation. With an increased fleet, Emirates launched 11 new destinations in 2011-12 including a strong focus on North America and South America in the final quarter with Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Seattle and Dallas-Fort Worth all launching between January and March 2012. In addition the airline added capacity to 34 cities including Manchester, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Khartoum, Lahore and Tunis. Looking forward to 2012-13, the airline has to date announced four new routes including Ho Chi Minh City, Barcelona, Lisbon and Washington DC. New A380 destinations for the airline in 2011-12 included Munich, Rome, Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur and Johannesburg, bringing the total number of A380 destinations to 17. In the coming financial year it will launch a further three A380 destinations including Melbourne, Tokyo and Amsterdam.