Dubai's Emirates airline has posted a record annual profit as strong demand pushed up revenue despite the war affecting the last month of the fiscal year.
Profit for the year ended March 2026 rose to Dh19.7 billion ($5.4 billion), up more than 3 per cent, the airline said.
Revenue rose 2 per cent to Dh130.9 billion during the year, as the airline “strategically” used its capacity to serve surging demand across markets, it said on Thursday.
This is the “best profit performance” in the airline’s history, Emirates said. The airline retains its place as the “world’s most profitable airline”, it added.
The wider Emirates Group, which includes dnata, posted a 3 per cent increase in 2025 profits after tax to Dh21 billion.
The group recorded revenue of Dh150.5 billion, up 3 per cent on 2024.
“For the first 11 months of 2025-26, the picture across the group was very positive. Strong demand for our products and services was driving revenue,” said chairman and chief executive Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed.
“On 28 February, military activity massively disrupted global commercial air traffic in the Gulf region, including in the UAE. We are fortunate to be based in Dubai, where years of infrastructure investments and a cohesive aviation ecosystem has enabled the government to quickly secure safe corridors for commercial flights.”
He added that Emirates and dnata have since “gradually restored operations” at DXB. “Although we are still operating at a lower passenger capacity than pre-disruption, cargo operations have ramped up to support the movement of essential goods into and through the UAE,” Sheikh Ahmed said.
