Emirates aims to return to 100% of pre-pandemic operations and network capacity in 2023


Sarmad Khan
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Emirates, the world's largest long-haul airline, expects to return to 100 per cent of operations and network capacity in 2023 as demand for travel and tourism recovers.

The airline is in “good shape” in terms of moving to the next stage of recovery, it said.

Next year will be a “milestone” in terms of getting back to the level of operations where the airline had left it before the coronavirus pandemic, Emirates' chief operating officer Adnan Kazim told a media briefing on Tuesday.

The carrier is operating at 70 per cent of its pre-pandemic capacity and that will increase to 80 per cent before the end of the summer, he said.

Emirates expects its capacity to rise to 85 per cent by the beginning of its winter schedule in November.

“The focus remains on recovering the Emirates’ network and capacity, which will be the core,” Mr Kazim said. “For us, next year will be the year of full recovery — 100 per cent. That’s what we aim for.”

The Dubai-based airline posted a loss of Dh20.3 billion ($5.5bn) in the 2020-2021 fiscal year after the pandemic hit the aviation industry.

Most carriers received bailouts or a capital injection to cope with the worst crisis in the sector's history. Emirates received an injection of $3.1bn from the Dubai government.

Airport services provider Dnata received $218 million in relief from authorities during that fiscal year.

However, the demand for travel has bounced back strongly and the momentum has carried into this year. Emirates will record a “good set of results” for its fiscal year ended March 31, narrowing losses for the last 12 months.

The airline expects to return to profit in the next fiscal year, president Tim Clark said last month.

Emirates reported signs of recovery both in terms of seat factor and demand, Mr Kazim said.

“It’s very positive and that’s happening in all the sectors of the business that we are in today,” he said.

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Emirates airline through the years - in pictures

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Emirates serves about 130 destinations, more than 90 per cent of its network, which will expand to 100 per cent of its pre-pandemic level in 2023.

The airline has almost 140 Boeing 777 aircraft in operation and 70 Airbus A380s superjumbos — a number which Mr Kazim expects to “ramp up before the end of the financial year”.

It is in talks with plane builders Boeing and Airbus for delays to deliveries of Boeing 787 and 777X jets as well as the Airbus A350 aircraft it has on order.

Emirates is spending about $1.3bn on retrofitting the 120 jets from its fleet of Boeing 777 ER and Airbus A380 aircraft as it now plans to keep some planes longer than planned.

“We have 67 of A380s and the remaining are [Boeing] 777s,” Mr Kazim said.

The airline’s cargo business is also holding up well despite geopolitical headwinds and more coronavirus outbreaks in China.

“We haven’t seen any difference in that [demand]. Still, the number is solid, still revenue for cargo [is] standing, as we have seen during the peak time last year and the year before that,” Mr Kazim said.

The airline is optimistic about growth prospects, helped by a pickup in the Dubai’s travel and tourism sector.

Emirates is working closely with the Dubai Corporation for Tourism & Commerce Marketing to improve growth in the sector.

Dubai, the tourism and commercial hub of the Middle East, was among the first destinations to open up for tourists in 2020 and stayed open with robust safety measures, which gave “confidence to global travelling population in the destination”, Issam Kazim, chief executive of DTCM, said while announcing the details of the Arabian Travel Market, which will be held in Dubai next month.

Dubai has concluded a successful Expo 2020 with 24 million visitors in six months, demonstrating the resilience of the emirate as a tourism centre, he said.

“It was successful event in its own right let alone it is coming on the back of a global pandemic,” Mr Kazim said.

The emirate had 7.3 million international visitors last year, and the authorities aim to surpass that number this year.

Dubai has started with 2.2 million visitors in the first two months of 2022, “showing that the energy is coming back”, he said.

DTCM is working on some key markets that still have not opened or have not “come back to their full scale”, he said.

Tearful appearance

Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday. 

Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow. 

She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.

A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.

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Rating: 3.5 stars

ESSENTIALS

The flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.

The hotels

Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.

The tours

A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages. 

'Of Love & War'
Lynsey Addario, Penguin Press

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UAE cricket captain

Age: 31

Born: Sharjah

Role: Left-arm spinner

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T20 internationals: 41 matches, 29 wickets, average 30.3, economy rate 6.28

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Copa del Rey

Semi-final, first leg

Barcelona 1 (Malcom 57')
Real Madrid (Vazquez 6')

Second leg, February 27

The Cairo Statement

 1: Commit to countering all types of terrorism and extremism in all their manifestations

2: Denounce violence and the rhetoric of hatred

3: Adhere to the full compliance with the Riyadh accord of 2014 and the subsequent meeting and executive procedures approved in 2014 by the GCC  

4: Comply with all recommendations of the Summit between the US and Muslim countries held in May 2017 in Saudi Arabia.

5: Refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of countries and of supporting rogue entities.

6: Carry out the responsibility of all the countries with the international community to counter all manifestations of extremism and terrorism that threaten international peace and security

Ain Dubai in numbers

126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure

1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch

16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.

9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.

5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place

192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.

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Squad: Majed Naser, Abdulaziz Sanqour, Walid Abbas, Khamis Esmail, Habib Fardan, Mohammed Marzouq (Shabab Al Ahli Dubai), Khalid Essa, Muhanad Salem, Mohammed Ahmed, Ismail Ahmed, Ahmed Barman,  Amer Abdulrahman, Omar Abdulrahman (Al Ain), Ali Khaseif, Fares Juma, Mohammed Fawzi, Khalfan Mubarak, Mohammed Jamal, Ahmed Al Attas (Al Jazira), Ahmed Rashid, Mohammed Al Akbari (Al Wahda), Tariq Ahmed, Mahmoud Khamis, Khalifa Mubarak, Jassim Yaqoub (Al Nasr), Ali Salmeen (Al Wasl), Yousef Saeed (Sharjah), Suhail Al Nubi (Baniyas)

THE POPE'S ITINERARY

Sunday, February 3, 2019 - Rome to Abu Dhabi
1pm: departure by plane from Rome / Fiumicino to Abu Dhabi
10pm: arrival at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport


Monday, February 4
12pm: welcome ceremony at the main entrance of the Presidential Palace
12.20pm: visit Abu Dhabi Crown Prince at Presidential Palace
5pm: private meeting with Muslim Council of Elders at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
6.10pm: Inter-religious in the Founder's Memorial


Tuesday, February 5 - Abu Dhabi to Rome
9.15am: private visit to undisclosed cathedral
10.30am: public mass at Zayed Sports City – with a homily by Pope Francis
12.40pm: farewell at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
1pm: departure by plane to Rome
5pm: arrival at the Rome / Ciampino International Airport

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Helen Cullen, Graydon House 

At a glance

Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

 

Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year

 

Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month

 

Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30 

 

Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

 

Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth

 

Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances

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Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8

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PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES

Tuesday (UAE kick-off times)

Leicester City v Brighton (9pm)

Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United (11.15pm)

Wednesday

Manchester United v Sheffield United (9pm)

Newcastle United v Aston Villa (9pm)

Norwich City v Everton (9pm)

Wolves v Bournemouth (9pm)

Liverpool v Crystal Palace (11.15pm)

Thursday

Burnley v Watford (9pm)

Southampton v Arsenal (9pm)

Chelsea v Manchester City (11.15pm)

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Updated: April 26, 2022, 2:02 PM`