Emirates Earnings Fall 72 Percent.

Emirates, headquartered in Dubai U.A.E, said that their profit fell 72 percent for their last fiscal period due to the drop in demand for air travel and the heavy expenditure of high oil prices. Despite the heavy hit, the carrier remained profitable; their 21st consecutive year, thanks to increased sales due to high capacity.

Emirates posted a profit of 1.49 billion dirhams ($406 million) for the year ended March 31, 2009. The number is shy of their record profit of 5.3 billion dirhams a year earlier.  Note that these figures include the entire Emirates Group as a whole, which include profit for the airline itself, as well as their cargo services, tour operations, etc.

Emirates has grown rapidly in the past few years. Their fleet is relatively new – 64 months average. Their fleet size, at the end of March 31, 2009, was listed at 127 aircraft. The airline currently has 5 Airbus A380s in service, and they’re awaiting 53 more of the super-jumbos.

Despite the profits, the carrier did announced unpaid leave for thousands of flight crew to cut costs. Like many airlines, even the fastest growing carriers still struggle in the weakened economy.

Emirates To Introduce A-380 To Rome

 Emirates will go to upgrade its Dubai-Rome daily route from 773 to 388 eff from Dec 1st, 2009. Rome would be the 2nd 380’s destination in Europe after London (with EK metal) and probably their shortest scheduled flight (just 5h30m) with the ‘giant’.

Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways fly into global top 10 list

Three of the biggest Middle Eastern airlines – Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways – have made it to the 2008 list of top 10 global airlines, according to the latest survey by Skytrax, a global air transport research organisation specialising in global airline and airport customer surveys.
Singapore Airlines flew away with the title of the world’s top airline for the third time in 10 years.

Of the three Gulf airlines, Etihad Airways made a fresh entry to the list this year – occupying 10th position (ranked 23rd in 2007), while Emirates has maintained the same ranking as last year, placed ninth worldwide. However, the airline did win acclaim for the best inflight entertainment concepts for the fourth year in succession.
Qatar Airways, though it dropped rank to seventh this year from fourth last year, is still the highest ranked among the Gulf carriers. The Doha-based airline also earned the title for Best Middle East Airline 2008 besides being voted the airline with the best cabin staff in the Middle East.
Sharjah’s low-cost carrier Air Arabia, meanwhile, emerged as the best low-cost airline in the Middle East, with easyJet flying away with the top position internationally.

Singapore Airlines marks 1,000th flight of A380 superjumbo

Singapore Airlines (SIA) marked its 1,000th flight of the world’s largest passenger jet since the carrier became the first in the world to operate the Airbus A380 in October, SIA said Tuesday.

SQ322 departed from Singapore Changi Airport for London’s Heathrow Airport close to midnight.

Since the airline started operating the Airbus A380 superjumbo in October last year, the aircraft has clocked 8,500 flying hours and carried almost 400,000 travelers, SIA said in a statement.

The carrier currently has five A380s in service and is due to receive further 14. Now, these A380s fly out of Singapore to Sydney, London and Tokyo. Flights have also been added to Beijing ahead of the Olympic Games.

To meet increasing demand from customers, SIA has stepped up training for crew, so that more are qualified to operate the A380 in the coming years. About 140 pilots and 2,000 cabin crew have been trained to fly and serve onboard the aircraft, said the carrier.

Dubai’s Emirates Airline became the second carrier to fly the A380 after launching its service on Friday, ending SIA’s nine- month solo reign.

Emirates A380 lands at JFK

Airbus’s A380 superjumbo touched down at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on Friday, marking the first commercial arrival of the giant, double-decker passenger plane on US soil.

The Emirates aircraft, carrying 489 passengers in varying degrees of luxury, landed smoothly and on time after a 13-1/2-hour flight from Dubai.

Airport workers crowded areas near the taxiway to catch a glimpse of Emirates A380 after it landed at New York’s JFK Airport this afternoon. The flight was A380’s first-ever regularly scheduled commercial flight to the USA. Following the flight, Emirates President Tim Clark addressed a crowd of journalists and airline VIPs that were on hand for the event.

Clark says it is “very likely” that Emirates will eventually fly all of its New York flights on the A380 superjumbo. He says other U.S. cities are likely to be added by Emirates in the coming years, adding that cites such as Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth and Washington would be among a list of obvious possibilities.

The plane, fitted out with lie-flat beds, flat screen televisions and spacious, windowed bathrooms in first and business class, is set to return to Dubai on Friday evening.