Emirates airline sees huge drop in profits in 2016-17
Emirates airline sees huge drop in profits in 2016-17
One of the world's biggest airline, Emirates, reported shocking drop in profits over the past year, as the Dubai-based airline struggled to cope with unexpected events in 2016.
2 min read
Emirates has seen a huge drop in profits [AFP]
Emirates airline announced huge losses in the 2016-17 financial period on Thursday, with a more than 80 percent drop in profits from the previous year.
It proved to be a turbulent past 12 months for Emirates with the first reported loss in five years for the Dubai-based carrier as it grappled with increased competition, a strong dollar, and US travel restrictions.
The result was a drop in net profits from a healthy $1.9 billion a year earlier to just $340 million in 2016-17.
The airline's chief bemoaned "destabilising events which have impacted travel demand during the year" for the impact on profits.
"Aviation and travel and notoriously vulnerable to social, economic and political events... For us, this year has been a particuarly testing one," said Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed, the chairman and chief executive of Emirates group.
The list of troubles over the past 12 months include Brexit, terror attacks in Europe, and the surprise election of Donald Trump as US president.
This saw a raft of security measures rolled out at border points in the US including the infamous so-called "Muslim travel ban", which saw a number of nationalities banned from entering America.
This included a large number living as expatriates in the Gulf country.
The "laptop ban" - which banned passengers carrying electronic devices larger than mobile phones on flights to the US - also affected routes from the UAE.
Both led to a huge decrease in demand to the US with the Dubai-based carrier forced to cut 20 percent of its weekly flights to American destinations.
Emirates said it would continue to expand operations in the coming year but it might have to hold back on the delivery of some new planes.
Yet despite the disappointing figures, the airliner managed to attract record numbers of customers over the past year with 56.1 million passengers on-board Emirates.
It proved to be a turbulent past 12 months for Emirates with the first reported loss in five years for the Dubai-based carrier as it grappled with increased competition, a strong dollar, and US travel restrictions.
The result was a drop in net profits from a healthy $1.9 billion a year earlier to just $340 million in 2016-17.
The airline's chief bemoaned "destabilising events which have impacted travel demand during the year" for the impact on profits.
"Aviation and travel and notoriously vulnerable to social, economic and political events... For us, this year has been a particuarly testing one," said Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed, the chairman and chief executive of Emirates group.
The list of troubles over the past 12 months include Brexit, terror attacks in Europe, and the surprise election of Donald Trump as US president.
This saw a raft of security measures rolled out at border points in the US including the infamous so-called "Muslim travel ban", which saw a number of nationalities banned from entering America.
This included a large number living as expatriates in the Gulf country.
The "laptop ban" - which banned passengers carrying electronic devices larger than mobile phones on flights to the US - also affected routes from the UAE.
Both led to a huge decrease in demand to the US with the Dubai-based carrier forced to cut 20 percent of its weekly flights to American destinations.
Emirates said it would continue to expand operations in the coming year but it might have to hold back on the delivery of some new planes.
Yet despite the disappointing figures, the airliner managed to attract record numbers of customers over the past year with 56.1 million passengers on-board Emirates.
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