The Emirates Group on Thursday announced a record profit, before tax, of Dh12.2 billion in 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 said its profit after tax stood at Dh10.6 billion, up 13 per cent from last year.

Emirates airline - a subsidiary of Emirates Group - remained the world's most profitable airline for the first half of 2025.

Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels.

“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,” said Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group.

Sheikh Ahmed said Emirates and dnata have invested billions to continually enhance their products and services.

“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.”

The Dubai-based carrier said its profit before tax for the first half of 2025-26 hit a new record of Dh11.4 billion, compared to Dh9.7 billion last year. Emirates' profit after tax stood at Dh9.9 billion, up 13 per cent from last year.

Its revenue, including other operating income, reached Dh65.6 billion, up 6 per cent, thanks to unabated travel appetite across markets.

Emirates' operating costs, including fuel, grew by 4 per cent as fuel remains the largest component of the airline's operating cost at 30 per cent.

The airline announced EBITDA of Dh19.7 billion, up 3 per cent year-on-year.

“Global demand for air transport and travel services has been buoyant, despite geopolitical 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,” said Sheikh Ahmed.

During the first half of 2025, the airline strengthened its network connectivity by deploying 28 additional weekly scheduled flights to: Antananarivo, Johannesburg, Muscat, Rome, Riyadh, and Taipei.

It also received delivery of five new A350 aircraft, adding more Business Class and Premium Economy seats to the airline's inventory. During this period, 23 aircraft (6 A380s, 17 Boeing 777s) with fully refreshed interiors rolled out of the airline's $5 billion (Dh18.35 billion) retrofit programme.

By September 30, 2025, Emirates Premium Economy was available to customers flying between Dubai and 61 cities.

Emirates carried 27.8 million passengers between April 1 and September 30, 2025, up 4 per cent from the same period last year.

Emirates Group announced that dnata's overall profit before tax was Dh843 million, up by 17 per cent from the same period last year. Profit after tax was Dh697 million, up 22 per cent from last year.

MENAFN06112025000049011007ID1110303771