One of the biggest airlines operating from Gatwick is bucking the gloom and doom surrounding the industry.

Emirates, which flies three services a day from the Sussex airport, is tipped to overtake British Airways as the world's largest long-haul airline after revealing record profits.

The carrier reported a 62.1% leap in net profits to five billion dirhams (£690m), with revenues up 32.3% at 39.5 billion dirhams.

It has a fleet of 114 aircraft while BA has 121. But the Dubai-based airliner, which employs more than 50 people at Gatwick, has placed orders worth nearly £39 billion for 182 aircraft, the first five of which are due for delivery in the coming year.

Emirates flew about 21.2 million passengers last year, an increase of 3.7 million. These results are the 20th consecutive year of net profit for the airline and come at a time when other carriers are struggling in the face of massive hikes in the cost of fuel.

Two airlines operating from Gatwick have collapsed in recent weeks. At the beginning of April, Oasis folded after attempting to run a low-fare service to Hong Kong.

Last week Nationwide, which flew from Gatwick to South Africa, also went bust after it said its cash flow had become "critical".

BA has been struggling with the fall-out from the Heathrow Terminal 5 fiasco and recently announced a potential tie-up with two US rivals.

The mooted three-way agreement with American Airlines and Continental would mean the trio co-ordinating schedules, fares and frequentflyer programmes for transatlantic flights.

It is an attempt by BA to boost its flagging share price, which has plunged to just over a third of last year's highs of nearly 600p.

Such manoeuvring has left Emirates in a bullish mood, with chairman and chief executive Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum saying the company is confident of expanding its workforce in the next few years.

He said: "It was another record year for the group in spite of a challenging business climate, particularly in the second six months where the soaring cost of jet fuel made a big dent, although the impact was partly offset by other operating gains.

"Despite the long-term forecast of a decrease in the number of passengers travelling in first and business class, I am happy to report that Emirates once again bucked the trend and boosted our seat factor in the forward cabins.

"Emirates is fortunate to be located in Dubai at the centre of the new Silk Road between East and West.

"I believe the threat of an economic downturn will be offset for Emirates by the boom in the Middle East, especially the thriving travel industry of tourism and commerce."

Emirates said fuel remained its top expenditure for the fourth year running, accounting for 30.6% of total operating costs, compared with 29.1% the previous year.

It operates three daily non-stop flights from Gatwick to Dubai, from where passengers can go on to 99 destinations in 62 countries.