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.
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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.
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