Emirates to resume flights to SA
Emirates is set to start flights to South Africa again as from 23 June.
In a short statement on Sunday, the Middle Eastern airline said it "welcomes the latest protocols and measures announced by Dubai's Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management to allow the safe resumption of passenger travel from South Africa, Nigeria and India to Dubai and onwards".
"We look forward to facilitating travel from these countries and supporting various travellers' categories," the airline said. It is still finalising further details like specific routes to be resumed.
The Emirates Group announced its first year of loss in more than 30 years, caused by a significant drop in revenue, fully attributed to the impact of Covid-19-related flight and travel restrictions throughout its entire financial year of 2020/21.
The group posted a loss of US$6 billion for the financial year ended 31 March 2021, compared with a US$456 million profit for the previous financial year. The airline nevertheless ended the 2020/21 financial year with a solid cash balance of US$5.4 billion.
Due to the impact of the pandemic, especially on international travel, for the first time in the group's history, retrenchments were implemented.
The total workforce was reduced by 31% to 75 145 employees, representing more than 160 different nationalities.
Keeping a tight control on costs, across the group, financial obligations were restructured, contracts renegotiated, processes examined and operations consolidated.