Emirates closes fiscal year with record profit at 5.6 billion (+7%)

The Emirates Group today released its Annual Report 2025-26, recording new record levels of profit, revenue and liquidity, despite a particularly challenging twelfth month of the financial year marked by severe operational challenges. As a result, a note said, Emirates remains the world's most profitable airline in the 2025-26 reporting period.

For the financial year ended 31 March 2026, the Emirates Group reported: a record pre-tax profit of Dirham 24.4 billion (US$6.6 billion/€5.6 billion), up 7% year-on-year, with a pre-tax margin of 16.2%; record revenues of Dirham 150.5 billion (US$41.0 billion/€34.6 billion), up 3% year-on-year; a record level of cash of Dirham 59.6 billion (USD 16.2 billion/EUR 13.7 billion), up 12% year-on-year; EBITDA of Dirham 41.1 billion (USD 11.2 billion/EUR 9.4 billion), confirming the Group's solid operating profitability.

The group declares a dividend of Dirham 3.5 billion (USD 1.0 billion, approximately EUR 810 million) to its shareholder, Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD). The corporate tax rate applied to the Emirates Group in the UAE increased this year from 9% to 15%, following the adoption of Pillar Two tax rules in the UAE. Net of the tax impact, the Group's net profit stands at 21.0 billion Dirhams (US$5.7 billion/EUR4.8 billion), up 3% from 2024-25.

"These extraordinary results, despite the significant difficulties encountered in the last month of our financial year," said Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman and chief executive of Emirates airline and the Group, "confirm the robustness and resilience of the Emirates Group's business model, based on safety, excellence, innovation, human capital and partnership. In the first eleven months of 2025-26, the Group's performance has been extremely positive. Strong demand for our products and services has driven revenues, while continued investment in product, people, technology and brand has enabled us to maintain solid margins. Month after month, we exceeded our targets. On 28 February, military activities caused a major disruption to global commercial air traffic in the Gulf region, including the UAE. Emirates and dnata acted promptly to support their personnel and affected customers, protect their assets and ensure business continuity. We are fortunate to be based in Dubai, where years of infrastructure investment and a highly integrated aviation ecosystem have enabled the government to quickly ensure safe air corridors for commercial flights. Emirates and dnata have gradually restored operations at Dubai International Airport. Although passenger capacity is still lower than before the disruptions, cargo operations have been stepped up to support the transportation of essential goods in and out of the UAE.