Emirates airline profits plunge

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Dubai’s Emirates airline said on Thursday net profit for 2008-09 slumped 80 per cent to Dh982m ($268m) as the effects of record fuel prices were compounded by the global recession’s impact on travel.

Emirates, owned by the Dubai government, said revenues in the year to end-March rose 10 per cent to Dh44.2bn as the airline continued to expand. The airline added 20 aircraft, including four Airbus A380s, and flew to four new destinations in Asia and the west coast of the US.

“No one could have predicted the scale of the worldwide recession which is now impacting every country on earth,” Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman and chief executive of Emirates Airline and Group, said on Thursday. “Emirates has worked hard to cope with this downturn.”