Emirates hits $5.2B profit, rewards staff with 22-week bonus

• Emirates, Dubai’s flagship airline, is celebrating their record-breaking profits this year!
• And to show gratitude, they have announced a 22-week bonus (that’s nearly 5 months of extra salary) for eligible employees!
• Fun fact: The airline transported “53.6 million passengers” during the fiscal year, due to a strong post-pandemic travel rebound.

What’s behind the celebration?

Emirates isn’t new to success.

In fact, they’ve only had 2 years of losses since launching in 1985 — one in 1986–87 and the other during the Covid slump.

But now? They’re on a serious winning streak.

3rd straight year of record profits

3rd year in a row with mega bonuses

• 2022: 20-week bonus
• 2023: 24-week bonus
• 2025: 22-week bonus

The big numbers — FY25 at a Glance

Emirates Group is a global aviation + travel giant owned fully by the Investment Corporation of Dubai (aka, the Dubai government’s investment arm).

It has two main engines:

• Emirates Airline (passenger + cargo)

• dnata (aviation services)

Emirates Group financial highlights

• Pre-tax profit: AED 22.7 billion, up 18% YoY
• Revenue: AED 145.4 billion, up 6% YoY
• EBITDA: AED 42.2 billion, a record high
• Cash balance: AED 53.4 billion, up 13%

Emirates Airline 2025 (Standalone)

• Pre-tax profit: AED 21.2 billion, a 20% rise
• Post-tax profit: AED 19.06 billion ($5.2 billion) for the fiscal year ending March 2025
• Revenue: AED 127.9 billion, up 6%
• Cash reserves: AED 49.7 billion, up 16%
• Employees: 69,465 globally up by 9.5%

Meanwhile, dnata, the group’s aviation services arm, also delivered

• Pre-tax profit: AED 1.6 billion, up 2%
• Revenue: AED 21.1 billion, up 10%
• Cash balance: AED 3.7 billion

Big dividend to Dubai

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum (Chairman & CEO) announced a massive AED 6 billion dividend to Emirates’ owner — the Investment Corporation of Dubai.

Translation? The airline’s success is directly fueling Dubai’s economy.

Also read: UAE to be delisted from FATF “grey list”

What’s next?

The future is looking just as bold:

• 90% of fleet being retrofitted

• 300+ new aircraft on order

• More acquisitions likely

• IPO on the table (if the Dubai government gives the green light)

• Big announcements expected at the Dubai Airshow in November

Also read: UAE-Italy: Enhancing UAE’s access to European markets with $40B investment

One more thing…

This was also the first fiscal year Emirates faced the UAE’s new 9% corporate tax.

Did it slow them down? Not even close.

They still pulled off a net profit of AED 20.5 billion!