Emirates maintains position as world’s most profitable airline with $3.3bn profit

The Emirates Group has announced a new record half-year financial performance, posting a profit before tax of US$ 3.3 billion for the first six months of 2025-26, making this the fourth consecutive year of record profitability for the half-year reporting period.

After accounting for income tax charges, the Group’s profit after tax is $ 2.9 billion (AED 10.6 billion), up 13 percent from last year.

Group revenue was $20.6 billion (AED 75.4 billion) for the first six months of 2025-26, up four percent from $ 19.3 billion (AED 70.8 billion) last year.

The Group closed the first half year of 2025-26 with a record cash position of $ 15.2 billion (AED 56.0 billion)

The Group has been able to tap on its own strong cash reserves to support business needs, including funding for new aircraft deliveries and servicing existing debt obligations. The Group also paid the remaining AED 2 billion (US$ 545 million) in dividend to its owner, of the $ 1.6 billion (AED 6 billion) declared during the financial year 2024-25.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group said: “The Group has once again delivered an outstanding performance, surpassing our half-year results of last year to achieve a new record profit for H1 2025-26. I’m delighted to note that Emirates maintains its position as the world’s most profitable airline for this half-year reporting period.

“This performance was primarily driven by the unflagging demand and growing customer preference for our product and services, which drove revenue growth and profitability.

“Emirates and dnata have invested billions to continually enhance our products and services, to bring new products to market, to improve our operations through innovation and technology, and to look after our employees who ensure our customers’ safety and satisfaction. These are core to our DNA.

“The Group’s strong profitability enables us to continue making these investments, and to scale up our proven business models in concert with Dubai’s growth as a global city of choice for talent, for businesses, and for tourists.”

Sheikh Ahmed added: “Global demand for air transport and travel services has been buoyant, despite geo-political events and economic concerns in some markets. We expect this demand resilience to continue for the rest of 2025-26 and look forward to increasing our capacity to grow revenues as new A350 aircraft join the Emirates fleet, and new facilities come online at dnata.”

To support increased operations and business activities, the Emirates Group’s employee base, compared to 31 March 2025, grew three percent to an overall count of 124,927 on 30 September 2025. Both Emirates and dnata have ongoing recruitment drives to support their future requirements.

Emirates continued to enhance its network and connectivity options through its Dubai hub. During the first half of 2025-26, Emirates launched new flight services to: Danang, Siem Reap, Shenzhen and Hangzhou. At 30 September, Emirates’ passenger and cargo network spanned 153 airports in 81 countries and territories.

Between 1 April and 30 September, Emirates received delivery of 5 new A350 aircraft, adding more Business Class and Premium Economy seats into the airline’s inventory. During this period, 23 aircraft (6 A380s, 17 Boeing 777s) with fully refreshed interiors rolled out of the airline’s US$ 5 billion retrofit programme.

This enabled Emirates to bring its latest cabin products to even more markets, including the industry-leading Emirates Premium Economy. By 30 September, Emirates Premium Economy was available to customers flying between Dubai and 61 cities.

On ground, “Emirates First” opened at Dubai Airport, offering First Class customers and Platinum Skywards members a luxurious private check-in area and experience. In the first six months of 2025-26, Emirates accelerated the roll-out of its retail strategy with the opening of new concept travel stores in Accra, Bangkok, Geneva, Jakarta, Mauritius, Osaka, Seoul, and Singapore.

In the first half of 2025-26, Emirates made notable investments to boost its global brand visibility. The airline signed multi-year sponsorship deals to become Platinum Partner of FC Bayern Munchen, Official Main Sponsor of Real Madrid Basketball, and Premium Partner and Official Airline Partner of the Investec Champions Cup and European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) Challenge Cup.

Emirates also extended its partnership with ATP as Premier Partner and Official Airline of the ATP Tour up to 2030, and its shirt sponsorship with Olympique Lyonnais until 2030.

Overall capacity during the first six months of the year increased by five percent to 31.3 billion Available Tonne Kilometres (ATKM) due to expanded flight operations. Capacity measured in Available Seat Kilometres (ASKM), increased by five percent, whilst passenger traffic carried measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPKM) was up by four percent with an average Passenger Seat Factor of 79.5 percent,
compared with 80.0 percent during the same period last year. Emirates carried 27.8 million passengers between 1 April and 30 September 2025, up four percent from the same period last year.

Emirates SkyCargo transported 1.25 million tonnes in the first six months of the year, up by four percent compared to the same period last year.

Emirates SkyCargo added capacity from 3 new Boeing 777 freighter delivered. In April, the cargo division launched Emirates Courier Express, an innovative product that leverages the power of the airline’s global network to provide door-to-door express shipping services for businesses.

Emirates’ operating costs (including fuel) grew by four percent in line with increased operations. Fuel remains the largest component of the airline’s operating cost at 30 percent.