Emirates reports US$ 77m profits

Emirates Airline produced a net profit of Dhs 284 million (US $77 million), for the first six months of its current financial year ending September 30, 2008.

This is down 88 per cent compared to Dhs 2.36 billion ($643 million) net profits for the same period in 2007, showing the impact of the record fuel prices earlier this year.

Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Group said:

"The first half of the year has been very tough for the airline industry, with record fuel prices forcing many carriers to shut shop or consolidate.

Emirates has worked hard to manage the impact of high fuel prices on our unit costs, while continuing to grow our business .