Cargo is sky high – but Emirates posts multi-billion dollar loss

© Gordzam

Emirates has published its annual report, a 198-page document outlining its successes in the face of challenges. There is a lot in there, but the freight headline figures are these: some 60% of the total group’s revenue derived from cargo; SkyCargo added 19 777-300ELR ‘mini-freighters’ – but ‘real’ freighters accounted for 62% of volumes, while pre-pandemic they carried just 23% of total volumes. Total volumes carried were 1.87m tonnes, down from 2.38m a year earlier. Yet revenues, benefiting from an average 75% increase in air freight rates, rose 52.6% to AED17.1bn ($4.62bn). And yields per FTKM nearly doubled.

Overall, however, Emirates Group posted its first loss in more than 30 years: it lost AED22.1bn ($6bn) for the financial year ending 31 March – compared with a AED1.7bn profit ($456m) a year earlier.