Emirates announces 'significantly' lower $1.1b annual loss

Emirates airline announced a "significantly reduced" annual loss of $1.1 billion dollars on Friday, five times lower than a year before, as pandemic travel restrictions ease.

Losses came in at 3.9 billion dirhams ($1.1 billion) in the 2021-2022 financial year to March, with revenues up 91 per cent, as the airline expanded its global capacity and reinstated flights, Emirates said in a statement.

The Middle East's largest carrier said it received a capital injection of $954 million from its owner, the government of Dubai, to help it survive the crisis.

"This year, we focussed on restoring our operations quickly and safely wherever pandemic-related restrictions eased across our markets," said its chairman and chief executive, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum.

"Business recovery picked up pace particularly in the second half of the year. Robust customer demand drove a huge improvement in our financial performance compared to our unprecedented losses of last year and we built up our strong cash balance."

In Friday's statement, it said the Emirates Group -- which includes ground-handling firm Dnata -- recorded an annual loss of 3.8 billion dirhams ($1.0 billion), but with revenues up by 86 per cent and "strong customer demand".