Emirates Marks Another Record Half-Year

News Release, 8 November 2007

Emirates Marks Another Record Half-Year

Emirates Airline has announced another record performance for the first six months of its current financial year (ending September 30, 2007), with net profits of US$ 643 million up 99 per cent on the same period last year (US$ 323 million).

The results reflect a strong revenue performance largely driven by higher passenger demand, combined with higher yields. Net margin was 13.7 per cent compared to 8.7 per cent for the corresponding period last year.

Emirates operates four times daily from New Zealand to Dubai and beyond, via Australia.

H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Emirates’ Chairman and Chief Executive, said: "Emirates has delivered another excellent performance which reflects healthy demand for our products and services. We have expanded our route network with new large capacity, fuel-efficient aircraft, and have continued to invest in a high quality product for our customers. These investments, matched with robust global demand for air travel, are paying off.

“Looking at the next six months, fuel costs remain a serious challenge for us with the price of crude oil now heading towards US$100 per barrel. There is also continued uncertainty surrounding the impact of recent credit issues in the financial markets on passenger demand, particularly in the premium cabins. However, I remain confident that Emirates is well positioned to address these challenges and continue our profitable growth.”

Emirates' operating revenue, at US$ 4.62 billion, was up 25.8 per cent compared to the US$ 3.67 billion during the corresponding period last year.

Passenger revenue recorded a growth of 30.5 per cent at US$ 3.56 billion, with passengers carried increasing by 23 per cent to 10.3 million, compared to 8.4 million for the first half-year of 2006-07. Seat factor improved to 79.7 per cent for the period, on 17 per cent higher seat capacity in terms of available seat kilometres.

Emirates SkyCargo performed well against a subdued global airfreight market, posting a revenue increase of 13 per cent to US$ 822 million, with cargo tonnage up by 10 per cent to 637,000 tonnes, compared with 577,000 tonnes for the same period last year. Cargo contributed about 19 per cent of the airline’s total transport revenue.

Operating costs were higher by 19.3 per cent. Fuel costs for the first six months remained the top expenditure item accounting for 27.8 per cent of total operating costs.

Emirates’ cash position, including held to maturity investments and capital guaranteed notes, was healthy at US$ 3.2 billion at September 30, compared to US$ 3.1 billion six months earlier. This was after paying dividends pertaining to the past financial year of US$ 109 million to the shareholder, and funding capital outflows of around US$ 621 million that included aircraft pre-delivery payments and other capital items.

Since April 2007, Emirates has launched passenger services to five new destinations - Venice, Newcastle, Sao Paulo, Toronto and Ahmedabad - bringing its global network to 97 cities on six continents, including 10 cargo-only destinations. The airline will commence operations to Houston from December 3. In addition to new destinations, Emirates has also increased the frequency of passenger services and added capacity with larger aircraft to many of its existing destinations during the half year.

Emirates’ current fleet size is 111, comprising 29 Airbus A330-200s, 30 Boeing 777-300ERs, two Boeing 777-200LRs, 12 Boeing 777-300s, nine Boeing 777-200s, 10 Airbus A340-500s, eight Airbus A340-300s, and 11 freighters – eight Boeing 747Fs and three Airbus A310Fs.

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