Emirates Airline is set to return to full profitability in 2023, according to the company’s president Tim Clark, as the carrier gears up for the closing of its financial year in March.
The Dubai-based airline has seen major losses over the last few years like all of the aviation industry, reporting passenger and cargo capacity dropping as low as 80 per cent.
But Clark told reporters on Tuesday, “we are in for a good set of results; we haven’t reversed it completely, but we have swung it.
“We’ve swung the business back to profitability, we are cash-positive again big time, we have a very strong balance sheet again which we have been rebuilding,” he added
“We are forecasting profits next year and hopefully to pay a dividend and repay some of the equity that the government has put into the business,” he added.
The Dubai government gave around US$2 billion in aid to the airline, amid its US$5.5 billion loss during the 2020-21 fiscal year.
According to Reuters, speaking on the sidelines of the World Government Summit in Dubai on Tuesday, Clark said the carrier will support Qatar Airways by not taking delivery of Airbus’ A350 jets.
Since early last year, Airbus and Qatar have been battling it out over the degradation of a number of the carrier’s widebody aircraft, and now it has turned into a heated legal dispute.
Many airlines have reported similar issues, but the Federal Aviation Administration, the European Aviation Safety Authority and the planemaker have said the cosmetic damage does not pose any safety threats.
Despite this, Clark said, “we’re not going to take airplanes with degradation. I made clear … that this has to be resolved prior to delivery to Emirates”.
In 2019, Emirates placed a $16 billion dollar order for 50 A350 jets, and they are set to begin delivery in 2023.
Despite this, Clark said the airline is “doing really well” amid the increasing fuel prices emerging from the Russia and Ukraine war, which has cut off one of the world’s largest oil suppliers.
According to the International Air Transport Association, which uses data from energy provider Platts, jet fuel price is currently 141.5 per cent higher than this time last year. The average price per barrel is currently over $115.
“Airfares are high simply because the fuel [cost] is so high and we cannot continue to absorb that,” Clark said.
He believes travel demand will stay strong despite the ticket price increase as pandemic-related restrictions continue to ease.
