The Middle East’s largest airline, Emirates, announced on Tuesday a net loss of $5.5 billion last year.
The losses are justified by the fact that revenues fell more than 66% due to global travel restrictions caused by the new coronavirus pandemic.
The Dubai-based airline said revenues were down $8.4 billion, largely due to the suspension of passenger flights at its hub airport in March 2020 and continued travel restrictions.
Emirates also indicated that its total passenger and cargo capacity decreased by 58 percent last year.
By 2020, the airline had posted a reduction in profits of $288 million.
Emirates Group, which also operates Dnata Travel and services provided on the ground at airports, reported a total loss of six billion dollars, the first time it has not posted a profit in more than three decades, the company pointed out.
The long-haul carrier, which is owned by the Government of Dubai, benefited from a $2 billion emergency bailout line to avoid a cash crunch last year.
The airline was forced to suspend all passenger flights in March 2020 for several weeks when airports in the UAE were temporarily closed, including transit flights through Dubai, which has the world’s busiest airport for international travel.
