Emirates remains the world’s most profitable airline

The Emirates Group has released its 2025–26 Annual Report, posting record profit, revenue, and cash balance levels for the financial year ended 31 March 2026 – a remarkable achievement given significant disruption in the final month of the reporting period.

Group Results at a Glance

• Record profit before tax (PBT) of AED 24.4 billion (US$ 6.6 billion), up 7% year-on-year, with a PBT margin of 16.2%
• Record revenue of AED 150.5 billion (US$ 41.0 billion), up 3%
• Record cash assets of AED 59.6 billion (US$ 16.2 billion), up 12%
• EBITDA of AED 41.1 billion (US$ 11.2 billion)
• Dividend of AED 3.5 billion (US$ 1.0 billion) declared to the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD)
• Profit after tax of AED 21.0 billion (US$ 5.7 billion), up 3%, after the UAE’s adoption of Pillar Two tax rules raising the corporate rate to 15%

Emirates Airline

Retaining its title as the world’s most profitable airline, Emirates reported:

• Record PBT of AED 22.8 billion (US$ 6.2 billion), up 7%, with a PBT margin of 17.4%
• Record revenue of AED 130.9 billion (US$ 35.7 billion), up 2%
• Highest-ever cash assets of AED 54.9 billion (US$ 15.0 billion), up 10%

Emirates grew its network to 152 cities across 80 countries, launching four new destinations – Da Nang, Hangzhou, Siem Reap, and Shenzhen – and expanded its codeshare and interline partnerships, giving customers seamless access to over 1,700 cities. The airline took delivery of 15 Airbus A350 aircraft, bringing its A350 fleet to 19 units. Emirates SkyCargo carried 2.4 million tonnes of cargo, up 3%, with revenue of AED 16.2 billion (US$ 4.4 billion). In a major connectivity milestone, 21 aircraft were fitted with Starlink high-speed Wi-Fi by year end.

dnata

dnata delivered solid growth across all business divisions, reporting:

• Record PBT of AED 1.6 billion (US$ 437 million), up 2%, with a PBT margin of 6.8%
• Record revenue of AED 23.6 billion (US$ 6.4 billion), up 12%
• Strong cash assets of AED 4.7 billion (US$ 1.3 billion), up 28%

International operations accounted for 77% of dnata’s revenue, driven by strong performance in Australia, Europe, the UAE, UK, and US. dnata handled 888,793 aircraft turns globally – up 12% – and processed 3.2 million tonnes of cargo. The division also acquired Wymap Group, an air cargo trucking specialist in Australia and New Zealand.

Leadership Perspective

His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group, said: “These outstanding results, despite significant challenges in the last month of our financial year, reaffirm the strength and resilience of the Emirates Group’s business model, which is rooted in safety, excellence, innovation, people and partnerships.”

“The Emirates Group enters 2026–27 with very strong cash reserves. Our aircraft deliveries and retrofit programme will continue, as will planned investments in new facilities. Our fundamentals are strong. Dubai’s place at the nexus of global commerce, trade and travel flows is unchanged. Our ambition to be the best in the world, and to be of service to the world, is unchanged.”

Investment, People & Sustainability

The Group invested AED 17.9 billion (US$ 4.9 billion) in new aircraft, facilities, equipment, and technology. Its total workforce grew 8% to 130,919 employees worldwide, with the UAE national workforce surpassing 4,000.

On sustainability, the Group signed an MoU with ENOC Group to explore sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) supply at Dubai’s airports, joined the Aviation Circularity Consortium, and partnered with four UK Wildlife Trusts through the “Championing Nature” initiative with Wimbledon. The Emirates Airline Foundation supported 13 active projects globally, providing over 500 flight tickets for medical missions and improving access to education, shelter, food and healthcare for disadvantaged children worldwide.

The full 2025–26 Emirates Group Annual Report is available at www.theemiratesgroup.com/annualreport