The Emirates Group, comprising Dubai’s Emirates Airline and dnata, announced its fourth consecutive year of record profitability on the back of AED75.4 billion (US$20.6 billion) in revenue for the first six months of 2025-26, up 4 per cent from AED70.8 billion (US$19.3 billion) last year.
Profit before tax reached AED12.2 billion (US$3.3 billion), while the group’s profit after tax surged 13 per cent to AED10.6 billion (US$2.9 billion). EBITDA was at AED21.1 billion (US$5.7 billion), 3 per cent higher than the AED20.4 billion (US$5.6 billion) reported for the same period last year, highlighting the group’s strong operating performance.
Emirates closed the first half year of 2025-26 with a record cash position of AED56 billion (US$15.2 billion), compared to AED53.4 billion (US$14.6 billion) on 31 March 2025, which enables it to tap on its own strong cash reserves to support business needs, including funding for new aircraft deliveries and servicing existing debt obligations.
Emirates Airline posted new record half-year profit before tax of AED11.4 billion (US$3.1 billion), up 17 per cent against 6 per cent rise in revenue to AED65.6 billion (US$17.9 billion).
Dnata’s profit before tax was AED843 million (US$230 million), up 17 per cent YoY, against a record half-year revenue of AED11.7 billion (US$3.2 billion), up 13 per cent.
Commenting on the results, His Highness 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 am 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 sync with Dubai’s growth as a global city of choice for talent, for businesses, and for tourists.”
Emirates expands fleet and network
On the outlook for the company, Sheikh Ahmed added: “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.”
Emirates Group’s employee base grew to an overall count of 124,927 on 30 September 2025, up 3 per cent compared to 31 March this year.
In the first half of the year, Emirates continued to enhance its network and connectivity with new flight services to Danang, Siem Reap, Shenzhen and Hangzhou. The airlines’ passenger and cargo network spans 153 airports in 81 countries and territories. It strengthened its network connectivity by deploying 28 additional weekly scheduled flights to Antananarivo, Johannesburg, Muscat, Rome, Riyadh and Taipei. It also signed agreement with Air Seychelles, Condor, and Aurigny for codeshare and interline partners.
Increased capacity
Overall capacity during the first six months of the year increased by 5 per cent to 31.3 billion ATKM (Available Tonne Kilometres) due to expanded flight operations. Capacity measured in Available Seat Kilometres (ASKM), increased by 5 per cent, whilst passenger traffic carried measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPKM) was up by 4 per cent. Between 1 April and 30 September 2025, Emirates carried 27.8 million passengers, up 4 per cent YoY.
Emirates SkyCargo added capacity from three new Boeing 777 freighter and transported 1.25 million tonnes in the first six months of the year, up by 4 per cent. However, cargo yields decreased by 6 per cent due to softening demand in some market segments amidst tariff concerns.
For dnata, airport operations remained the largest contributor to revenue with AED5.5 billion (US$1.5 billion), a 15 per cent increase YoY. Across its operations, the number of aircraft turns handled increased by 15 per cent to 450,903 bolstered by its newly launched operations at Rome Fiumicino Airport, and it recorded 1.59 million tonnes of cargo handled.
Flight catering and retail operations contributed AED4.1 billion (US$1.1 billion) to dnata’s revenue, up 11 per cent. The overall number of meals uplifted slightly decreased by 1 per cent to 60 million meals.
Travel division contributed AED2 billion (US$538 million) to revenue, up 11 per cent compared to AED1.8 billion (US$483 million) for the same period last year. Total transactional value (TTV) was up 9 per cent to AED5 billion (US$1.4 billion).
