The Emirates Group revenue reached AED 46.1 billion ($12.6 billion) for the first six months of its 2015/16 financial year, down 2.3 per cent from AED 47.2 billion ($12.9 billion) during the same period last year, reflecting the impact of the strong dollar against major currencies.
Net profit rose to AED 3.7 billion ($1 billion), up 65 per cent over the last year’s results. The group’s cash position on 30 September 2015 was AED 14.8 billion ($4 billion), compared to AED 20 billion ($5.5 billion) on 31 March. This is due to ongoing investments mainly into new aircraft, airline related infrastructure projects, and business acquisitions.
The number of people employed by the group rose by 4 per cent from the end of March to more than 87,000.
During the first six months of the financial year, Emirates received 13 wide-body aircraft –eight A380s, and five Boeing 777s. It also retired four older aircraft, resulting in a net increase of nine new aircraft for its fleet, with 16 more new aircraft scheduled to be delivered before the end of the financial year. It launched services to four new destinations – Bali, Multan, Orlando, and Mashhad.