The Emirates Group announced what is said was a new record half-year financial performance, posting a profit before tax of AED 12.2 billion (US$ 3.3 billion) for 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’s profit after tax is AED 10.6 billion (US$ 2.9 billion), up 13% from last year.
Illustrating its strong operating performance, the Group maintained a robust EBITDA of AED 21.1 billion (US$ 5.7 billion), 3% higher than the AED 20.4 billion (US$ 5.6 billion) reported for the same period last year. Group revenue was AED 75.4 billion (US$ 20.6 billion) for the first six months of 2025-26, up 4% from AED 70.8 billion (US$ 19.3 billion) last year.
The Group closed the first half year of 2025-26 with a record cash position of AED 56.0 billion (US$ 15.2 billion) on 30 September 2025, compared to AED 53.4 billion (US$ 14.6 billion) on 31 March 2025. The Group has been able to tap on its own strong cash reserves to support business needs, including funding for new aircraft deliveries and servicing existing debt obligations. The Group also paid the remaining AED 2 billion (US$ 545 million) in dividend to its owner, of the AED 6 billion (US$ 1.6 billion) declared during the financial year 2024-25.
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’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. 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.”
To support increased operations and business activities, the Emirates Group’s employee base, compared to 31 March 2025, grew 3% to an overall count of 124,927 on 30 September 2025. Both Emirates and dnata have ongoing recruitment drives to support their future requirements.
Emirates continued to enhance its network and connectivity options through its Dubai hub. During the first half of 2025-26, Emirates launched new flight services to: Danang, Siem Reap, Shenzhen and Hangzhou. At 30 September, Emirates’ passenger and cargo network spanned 153 airports in 81 countries and territories. The airline strengthened its network connectivity by deploying 28 additional weekly scheduled flights to: Antananarivo, Johannesburg, Muscat, Rome, Riyadh and Taipei. Providing even more connection options for customers, during the first six months of 2025-26, Emirates entered agreements with three codeshare and interline partners: Air Seychelles, Condor, and Aurigny.
Between 1 April and 30 September, Emirates received delivery of 5 new A350 aircraft, adding more Business Class and Premium Economy seats into the airline’s inventory. During this period, 23 aircraft (6 A380s, 17 Boeing 777s) with fully refreshed interiors rolled out of the airline’s US$ 5 billion retrofit programme. This enabled Emirates to bring its latest cabin products to even more markets, including the industry-leading Emirates Premium Economy. By 30 September, Emirates Premium Economy was available to customers flying between Dubai and 61 cities.
Overall capacity during the first six months of the year increased by 5% to 31.3 billion Available Tonne Kilometres (ATKM) due to expanded flight operations. Capacity measured in Available Seat Kilometres (ASKM), increased by 5%, whilst passenger traffic carried measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPKM) was up by 4% with an average Passenger Seat Factor of 79.5%, compared with 80.0% during the same period last year. Emirates carried 27.8 million passengers between 1 April and 30 September 2025, up 4% from the same period last year. Emirates SkyCargo transported 1.25 million tonnes in the first six months of the year, up by 4% compared to the same period last year. Customer demand for Emirates SkyCargo’s specialised products and excellent network of freighter and bellyhold cargo operations remained steady. However, cargo yields decreased by 6% due to softening demand in some market segments amidst tariff concerns.
Emirates SkyCargo added capacity from 3 new Boeing 777 freighter delivered. In April, the cargo division launched Emirates Courier Express, an innovative product that leverages the power of the airline’s global network to provide door-to-door express shipping services for businesses.
Cementing its position as the world’s most profitable airline for the half year reporting period, Emirates profit before tax for the first half of 2025-26 hit a new record of AED 11.4 billion (US$ 3.1 billion), compared to AED 9.7 billion (US$ 2.6 billion) last year. Emirates profit after tax is AED 9.9 billion (US$ 2.7 billion), up 13% from last year. Emirates revenue, including other operating income, of AED 65.6 billion (US$ 17.9 billion) was up 6% compared with AED 62.2 billion (US$ 16.9 billion) for the same period last year. The airline’s new record revenue can be attributed to unabated travel appetite across markets, and customer preference for Emirates’ products and services, particularly for its premium cabins. Emirates’ operating costs (including fuel) grew by 4% in line with increased operations. Fuel remains the largest component of the airline’s operating cost at 30%.
Dnata
The dnata unit saw strong growth in the first six months of 2025-26, as it continued to ramp up operations across its cargo and ground handling, catering and retail, and travel services businesses. In the first half of 2025-26, dnata’s airport services and catering and retail divisions won several significant new contracts and grew existing customers across its international operations. This shows dnata’s ability to serve the diverse requirements of its airline customers with high safety standards and consistently high-quality products and services. The unit continued to make strategic investments in its business to respond to customer needs and tap on market prospects. It announced plans to deploy 800 new ground support equipment (GSE) units across its global network in 2025, an investment valued at US$ 110 million to further enhance operational performance and secure a steady supply of advanced, lower-emission equipment to support dnata’s growth and sustainability targets.
Other highlights in the first half of 2025-26 include: the launch of its airport hospitality brand, marhaba, in the United Kingdom; a €3 million minority stake investment in WonderMiles, an advanced NDC-enabled booking platform to strengthen dnata Travel’s corporate business offering; and the disposal of its 75% stake in Super Bus, which operates sightseeing tours in the UAE. Dnata also entered its first major sports sponsorship partnership, signing a three-year agreement with Dubai Basketball to become a Founding Partner of the city’s first professional basketball franchise.
Dnata achieved a new record half-year revenue, crossing the US$ 3.0 billion mark for the first time for this reporting period. dnata’s revenue, including other operating income, of AED 11.7 billion (US$ 3.2 billion) increased by 13% compared to AED 10.4 billion (US$ 2.8 billion) generated in the same period last year. Overall profit before tax for dnata is AED 843 million (US$ 230 million), up by 17% from the same period last year. dnata’s profit after tax is AED 697 million (US$ 190 million), up 22% from last year.
Dnata’s airport operations remains the largest contributor to revenue with AED 5.5 billion (US$ 1.5 billion), a 15% increase compared to the same period last year, as its airline customers’ operations continued to pick up particularly in Italy, Australia, the UK and the UAE. Across its operations, the number of aircraft turns handled by dnata increased by 15% to 450,903 bolstered by its newly launched operations at Rome Fiumicino Airport, and it recorded 1.59 million tonnes of cargo handled, up by 3% due to additional cargo handling driven by its UAE operations.
Dnata’s flight catering and retail operations, contributed AED 4.1 billion (US$ 1.1 billion) to its revenue, up 11% as its retail product grew significantly as part of the division’s strategy, catering production increases in Australia and the UK to meet customer demand, and the positive impact of revised contracts to reflect rising supply costs. The overall number of meals uplifted slightly decreased by 1% to 60.0 million meals compared to last year.
Dnata’s travel division contributed AED 2.0 billion (US$ 538 million) to revenue, up 11% compared to AED 1.8 billion (US$ 483 million) for the same period last year. The division reported an underlying total transactional value (TTV) of AED 5.0 billion (US$ 1.4 billion), compared to AED 4.5 billion (US$ 1.2 billion), up 9% compared to the same period last year.
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