The carrier is paying workers the equivalent of 22 weeks’ salary.
An Emirates Airbus A380 (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)
Emirates Group, the parent company of UAE flag carrier Emirates, will pay eligible employees a massive 22-week bonus after producing its strongest ever annual financial results.
The bonus was first reported by Bloomberg, which saw an internal memo announcing the payments.
By comparison, Delta, which was the most profitable U.S. airline in 2024, recently gave employees the equivalent of five weeks of extra pay as part of its profit-sharing program.
Emirates Group on Thursday reported yearly revenues of $39.6 billion, up 6% from the prior year, and profits of $6.2 billion, up 18% from the prior year. Both figures are record highs for the company. The group’s profit margin, meanwhile, surged to 14.9%, another peak. After-tax profits came to $5.6 billion.
Emirates Group’s financial year runs from April 1 to March 31 and includes earnings from parts of 2024 and 2025.
Company officials linked the standout performance to increasing demand from customers, an upsurge in cargo transportation, comparatively lower fuel costs, and expanded seating capacity provided by the Airbus A350.
Also a factor is the group’s growing commercial air network, which in the last year added flights to and from Bogota, Colombia and Madagascar and restarted routes to and from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Lagos, Nigeria, Adelaide, Australia, and Edinburgh, Scotland. It also strengthened service at 21 existing locations to meet higher demand.
Emirates Group includes its eponymous airline and the Dubai National Air Travel Agency, commonly known as dnata, which provides cargo and ground handling services at over 100 airports worldwide.
Standalone results for Emirates included revenues of $34.9 billion and profits of $5.8 billion. After-tax profits came to $5.2 billion.
Emirates has been among the world’s most profitable airlines for several years. In 2024, based on that performance, it paid employees a 20-week bonus.
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