While the dramatic rise in the price of crude oil during much of 2000 provided the United Arab Emirates with a generous windfall, not every enterprise in the country is applauding. As Gulf News< reports, Emirates Airline is forecasting a fall in profits for the 2000/2001 fiscal year, caused mainly by higher fuel prices.
Speaking to Gulf News, Dermot Mannion, the airline’s director of finance, explained that while debts were growing, the firm's financial position remained solid.
Emirates managed to reduce the impact of the increase in world oil prices through “purchasing management," Mannion said, resulting in a fuel bill that was just 10 percent higher than the previous year, even though the actual increase in fuel prices was higher.
Mannion said that Emirates Airline was pushing ahead with its modernization program, as part of Dubai's strategy to become an international transportation hub linking Asia with Europe and North America. By the end of the current financial year, the airline’s fleet will grow from 31 to 35 aircrafts, increasing passenger and cargo capacity by 24 percent. Last year the airline became the first company to commit itself to buying Airbus' new superjumbo A380.
There are no plans at present to privatize the airline, Mannion told Gulf News. The company had designed its plans assuming that it would remain government-owned. – (Albawaba-MEBG)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
