XXXX in revenue, up 9.5 percent.

In contrast to the global economic environment Emirates witnessed an upward trend in its premium class seat factor for a second year, up 1.9 percentage points from 2010-11. Premium and overall seat factor for the airlines flagship A380 aircraft sat even higher, highlighting a continued demand in the product from passengers.

Outside of the UAE, Emirates has continued to invest in the markets that it serves, playing a pivotal role in job creation within the US and Europe through its significant aircraft orders. At the Dubai Airshow Emirates announced an order for an additional 50 Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft, and 20 777-300 ER options valued at US$ 26 billion (AED 95.4 billion). This recent order, in addition to engine orders for American-made GE90 engines, is expected to support over 100,000 skilled American jobs, injecting billions into the local US economy.

With a further 232 aircraft on order worth over US$ 84 billion, combined with the airlines increasing worldwide passenger traffic, Emirates is set to continue to drive considerable economic growth in the countries that it serves.

Forging ahead with its intricately planned expansion, Emirates received 22 new aircraft during the year including 14 Boeing 777-300ERs, two Boeing 777Fs and six A380s from Airbus, the highest number of aircraft received in a single year of operation. With an increased fleet, Emirates launched 11 new destinations in 2011-12 including a strong focus on North America and South America in the final quarter with Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Seattle and Dallas-Fort Worth all launching between January and March 2012.

In addition to these new destinations Emirates added much needed capacity to 34 cities including; Manchester, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Khartoum, Lahore and Tunis. Looking forward to 2012-13, Emirates has to date announced four new routes including Ho Chi Minh City, Barcelona, Lisbon and Washington D.C.

New A380 destinations for the airline in 2011-12 included; Munich, Rome, Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur and Johannesburg bringing the total number of A380 destinations to 17. In the coming financial year Emirates will launch a further three A380 destinations including: Melbourne, Tokyo and Amsterdam. A total of 20 of Emirates A380s have also now been equipped with on-board Wi-Fi to allow continuous connectivity for passengers.

To further improve on-board communication for our passengers Emirates has enabled its fleet of Airbus A330 and A340 aircraft and over 50 Boeing 777s with the AeroMobile phone service, permitting passengers to make phone calls during their flight.

Continuing its customer focus Emirates opened four new dedicated airport lounges during the year including; San Francisco, Istanbul, Colombo and a fourth new lounge in Dubai, bringing the total number of Emirates lounges to 32. Globally Emirates extended its lauded Chauffeur-drive service to a number of new cities such as Chennai and Bangkok, in addition to enhancing its existing Chauffeur-drive product in the UAE by introducing 46 Mercedes E200 cars for its First Class passengers.

Bucking the industry trend, the 2011-12 financial year has been a strong one for Emirates SkyCargo with revenues of AED 9.5 billion (US$ 2.6 billion) an 8.4 percent increase on last year on account of an increase in freight tonnage and freight yield per Freight Tonne Kilometre (FTKM) which rose by 5.4 percent.

With the bulk of the cargo industry reporting downward tonnage, Emirates SkyCargos tonnage increase of 1.7 percent reaching 1,796 thousand tonnes showcases its persistence to grow revenues against the industry norm.

Contributing 16.2 percent of Emirates total transport revenue Emirate SkyCargo continues to play an integral role in the companys expanding operations.

At the end of the financial year, Emirates SkyCargo freighter fleet was eight two on wet lease and six on operating lease.

Emirates Destination and Leisure Management (D&LM) division saw revenue of AED 245 million (US$ 66.8 million) during the year, an increase of 8.4 percent over last year.

In the 52 years of dnata, 2011-12 has been its most successful yet. With an increase of 58.9 percent over last year, dnata grew its revenue to AED 7 billion (US$ 1.9 billion). Overall profit for dnata also reached its highest ever point at AED 808 million (US$ 220 million).

During the year, dnatas operating costs increased by 58.9 percent to AED 6.2 billion (US$ 1.7 billion), primarily triggered by the first full integration of Alpha Group.

For the first time, dnatas largest revenue stream has come from in-flight catering, accounting for AED 2.5 billion (US$ 668 million) of its total revenue. The single largest factor in this revenue shift is the full year inclusion of Alpha Flight Group who uplifted over 48 million meals during the year.

Revenue from dnatas airport operations increased by 17.2 percent reaching AED 2.3 billion (US$ 632 million) to make the second largest revenue stream behind inflight catering. The increase is due primarily to increased volumes at Dubai and Singapore airports.

dnatas cargo handling division also witnessed upward growth with revenues increasing by 12.6 percent to AED 993 million (US$ 271 million) on account of increased tonnage at Dubai International Airport and Singapore Changi Airport. Increased cargo volumes at Dubai International Airport and Dubai World Central saw dnata handle 3.3 percent more cargo.

Complementing its growth and expansion, dnata underwent a comprehensive brand refresh throughout the year, incorporating the different businesses of dnata under the unifying One dnata umbrella. With staff across 39 countries, the One dnata message has been fully embraced by its 20,000 strong workforce.

As of 31st March 2012, the Group and its subsidiaries employed 63,000 staff, representing over 160 different nationalities. The full 2011-12 Annual Report of the Emirates Group comprising Emirates, dnata and their subsidiary companies is available on: www.theemiratesgroup.com/annualresults.

Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2012.