DUBAI UAE, 12 November 2024: Emirates has once again won ‘Best Airline in the World’ at the prestigious ULTRAs 2024 Awards.  

The airline was recognised by thousands of global travellers for its exceptional products, innovative services and superb value-for-money experiences on offer. Emirates’ ‘fly better’ travel experiences have also been recognised by more than 20 awards this year, including ‘World Best Airline’ by Telegraph Travel, ranking first amongst 90 global carriers; and ‘Best Airline’ by The Times and Sunday Times Travel Awards.

The ULTRAs are amongst the most respected awards in the industry, which recognise travel leaders in multiple categories with winners determined from the votes of a global network of active and affluent travellers. Ultratravel is an independent magazine with a global circulation of 1.2 million active travellers.

The award was accepted by Thierry Aucoc, Emirates Senior Vice President Commercial Operations in Europe and the Americas, and Jabr Al-Azeeby, Emirates Divisional Vice President in the UK, at a ceremony held last week at Kensington Palace in London. The event was attended by leading members of the travel industry and other notable guests.

Sir Tim Clark, President of Emirates Airline, said: “We’re delighted to be recognised as ‘Best Airline in the World’ by the prestigious ULTRAs. Our investments in products and services, in our people, training and technology, all aim to elevate the travel experience at every step of the journey so our customers truly ‘fly better’, and we’ll always work hard to raise the bar for them. Our multi-billion dollar nose-to-tail refurbishment programme will see over 200 aircraft receive fully refreshed interiors that will take the Emirates experience to even greater heights. Thank you to our loyal customers, and we’ll keep moving forward at pace to offer the very best in international air travel.”

Enhanced travel experiences

Emirates continues to invest in innovative products, implement advanced technologies, and expand its network to make the travel experience even more seamless for customers.

In the last year, the airline rolled out 8 fully refurbished aircraft with refreshed interiors (3 A380s, 5 Boeing 777s) as part of its US$ 4 billion retrofit programme; invested US$ 11 million to open new lounges for premium customers in London Stansted and Jeddah as well as refurbished the existing facility at Paris Charles De Gaulle; and opened experiential travel stores in Hong Kong, London, and Paris.

Emirates also expanded its global network by restarting services in Phnom Penh in Cambodia via Singapore and announcing new routes to Bogotá via Miami and Madagascar via the Seychelles. The airline recently announced its best-ever half-year financial results,  carrying 26.9 million passengers across its extensive network of more than 148 destinations (between 1 April and 30 September 2024).

Award-winning airline

Emirates also recently won the 2025 APEX World Class Airline for delivering outstanding customer service, and for showcasing the highest global standards of safety and well-being, sustainability, and service-guest experience.

Last month, the airline also took home five awards the at  Forbes Travel Guide’s Air Travel Awards including ‘Best International Airline,’ ‘Best Culinary Programme,’ ‘Best First Class,’ ‘Best In-Flight Cocktail Lounge’ (Emirates A380 Onboard Lounge) and ‘Best International Airline Lounge (First Class Lounge at Dubai International).’

Emirates operates the World’s largest fleet of wide-body Boeing 777 and Airbus A380 aircraft, offering spacious cabins and iconic inflight features such as its A380 Shower Spa and Onboard Lounge.  

Customers will also enjoy the warm hospitality of the airline’s multinational crew, regionally gourmet cuisine, and award-winning inflight entertainment system – ice – offering up to 6,500 channels of the best movies, TV shows, podcasts and more. Emirates’ inflight entertainment system was recognised last week as ‘Best Inflight Entertainment’ at the Business Traveller Awards 2024. The airline recently launched a new collaboration with Spotify – the World’s most popular audio-streaming subscription service – to offer customers a wide array of podcasts and playlists in the sky.

For more information or to book tickets, visit emirates.com. Tickets can also be booked on Emirates App, Emirates Retail stores, Emirates contact centre, or via travel agents.

DUBAI, UAE, 07 November 2024: The Emirates Group announced Friday its best-ever half-year financial performance, posting a profit before tax of AED 10.4 billion (USD2.8 billion) for the first six months of 2024-25, surpassing its record profit before tax for the same period last year.

This is the first financial year that the UAE corporate income tax, enacted in 2023, is applied to the Emirates Group. After accounting for the 9% tax charge, the Group’s profit after tax is AED 9.3 billion (USD2.5 billion).

Demonstrating its strong operating profitability, the Group maintained a robust EBITDA of AED 20.4 billion (USD5.6 billion), slightly lower from AED 20.6 billion (USD5.6 billion) last year.

Group revenue was AED 70.8 billion (USD19.3 billion) for the first six months of 2024-25, up 5% from AED 67.3 billion (USD18.3 billion) last year. This reflects consistently strong customer demand across business divisions and regions.

The Group closed the first half year of 2024-25 with a solid cash position of AED 43.7 billion (US$ 11.9 billion) on 30 September 2024, compared to AED 47.1 billion (US$ 12.8 billion) on 31 March 2024. The Group has been able to tap into its own strong cash reserves to support business needs, including payments for new freighter aircraft orders and other debt payments. The Group also paid AED 2 billion in dividends to its owner, as declared at the end of its 2023-24 financial year.

His Highness (HH) Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group said: “The Group has surpassed its record performance of last year to deliver a fantastic result for the first half of 2024-25…The Group’s strong profitability enables us to make the investments necessary for our continued success. We’re investing billions of dollars to bring new products and services to the market for our customers to implement advanced technologies and other innovation projects to drive growth, and to look after our employees who work hard every day to ensure our customers’ safety and satisfaction.”

HH Sheikh Ahmed added: “We expect customer demand to remain strong for the rest of 2024-25, and we look forward to increasing our capacity to grow revenues as new aircraft join the Emirates fleet and new facilities come online at dnata. The outlook is positive, but we don’t intend to rest on our laurels. We will stay agile in deploying our capacity and resources in a dynamic marketplace.”

Emirates airline

Emirates continued to enhance its network and increase connectivity options through its Dubai hub. During the first half of 2024-25, Emirates increased scheduled flights to 8 cities: Amsterdam, Cebu, Clark, Luanda, Lyon, Madrid, Manila and Singapore.

In May, Emirates restarted daily services to Phnom Penh in Cambodia via Singapore. In June, it launched daily services to Bogotá via Miami, expanding the airline’s South American presence to Colombia. In September, Emirates opened a new route to Madagascar via the Seychelles – taking its passenger and cargo network to 148 airports in 80 countries by 30 September.

Expanding connectivity options for customers, during the first six months of 2024-25, Emirates entered into new agreements with seven codeshare, interline, and intermodal partners: AirPeace, Avianca, BLADE, ITA Airways, Iceland Air, SNCF Railway, and Viva Aerobus.

Between 1 April and 30 September, eight aircraft (three A380s, five Boeing 777s) with fully refreshed interiors rolled out of the airline’s USD4 billion retrofit programme. This enabled Emirates to accelerate the deployment of its latest cabin products, including its latest 4-class Boeing 777 that feature a new 1-2-1 layout of lie-flat seats with personal minibars in Business Class, and the popular Emirates Premium Economy.

The first retrofitted Emirates 777 was deployed to Geneva in August, followed by Tokyo Haneda and Brussels. For the next six months, as more aircraft are retrofitted, Emirates has lined up 10 more routes for its refurbished 777s: Riyadh, Zurich, Kuwait, Damman, Chicago, Boston, Dallas Fort Worth, Seattle, Newark-Athens and Miami-Bogota.

By year-end, Emirates’ latest A380 and Boeing 777 inflight experiences, including Premium Economy, will be available to customers on over 30 routes.

Overall capacity during the first six months of the year increased by 5% to 29.9 billion Available Tonne Kilometres (ATKM) due to expanded flight operations. Capacity measured in Available Seat Kilometres (ASKM) increased by 4%, whilst passenger traffic carried measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPKM) was up by 2% with an average Passenger Seat Factor of 80.0%, compared with 81.5% during the same period last year. Emirates carried 26.9 million passengers between 1 April and 30 September 2024, up 3% from the same period last year.

Emirates profit before tax for the first half of 2024-25 hit a new record of AED 9.7 billion (USD 2.6 billion), compared to AED 9.5 billion (USD2.6 billion) for the same period last year. Emirates profit after tax is AED 8.7 billion (USD2.4 billion).

Emirates revenue, including other operating income, of AED 62.2 billion (USD16.9 billion) was up 5% compared with AED 59.5 billion (USD16.2 billion) for the same period last year. The airline’s new record revenue can be attributed to consistently strong travel and air cargo demand across markets, and its ability to offer customers great value and services.

Emirates’ direct operating costs (including fuel) grew by 6% in line with increased operations. Fuel remains the largest component of the airline’s operating cost (32%), compared to 34% in the same period last year.

Driven by customer demand and increased operations during the six months, Emirates’EBITDA of AED 19.1 billion (US$ 5.2 billion) remained very strong, although slightly down by 2% compared to AED 19.5 billion (US$ 5.3 billion) for the same period last year.
For information on the airline and to make a booking visit www.emirates.com