The Emirates Group has seen a loss of AED5.7 billion (US$1.6 billion) for the first half of financial 2021-22.

The figure is a substantial improvement on the loss of AED14.1 billion (US$3.8 billion) reported for the same period last year.

Group revenue was AED24.7 billion (US$6.7 billion) for the first six months of 2021-22, up 81 per cent from AED13.7 billion (US$ 3.7 billion) during the same period last year.

The “strong revenue recovery” was underpinned by the easing of travel restrictions worldwide and the corresponding increase in demand for air transport as countries progressed their Covid-19 vaccination programmes, the airline said.

The group continued to maintain a “healthy cash position” which stood at AED 18.8 billion (US$5.1 billion) on September 30th, compared to AED19.8 billion (US$5.4 billion) at the end of March.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chief executive of Emirates Group, said: “As we began our 2021-22 financial year, Covid-19 vaccination programmes were being rolled out at unprecedented scale around the world.

“Across the group, we saw operations and demand pick up as countries started to ease travel restrictions.

“This momentum accelerated over the summer and continues to grow steadily into the winter season and beyond.”

In the first half of 2021-22, the Dubai government, owner of the airline, injected a further injected AED2.5 billion (US$681 million) into the airline by way of an equity investment.

The employee base, compared to March, dropped marginally by two per cent to an overall count of 73,571 at the end of September.