DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Long-haul carrier Emirates reported on Thursday that it earned annual profits of $5.2 billion, with the state-owned firm declaring itself the world’s most profitable airline as global aviation fully returned to flight after the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The profits came as the Dubai-based carrier served 53.7 million passengers out of its hub of Dubai International Airport, compared to 51.9 million passengers in the fiscal year prior. It had aftertax profits of $4.7 billion that same period.

The overall Emirates Group, owned by Dubai’s sovereign wealth fund known as the Investment Corporation of Dubai, saw annual profits of $5.6 billion, compared to $5.1 billion the year before.

“Our excellent financial standing enables us to continue building on and scaling up from our successful business models,” said Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktom, Emirates’ chairman and chief executive.

“While some markets are jittery about trade and travel restrictions, volatility is not new in our industry,” he said. ”We simply adapt and navigate around these challenges.”

About 121,000 workers at the overall Emirates Group separately received word they’d receive a bonus worth 22 weeks of their annual salary. In 2024, they received a 20-weeks bonus.

Emirates’ financial year runs from April 1 to March 31, including revenue from both 2024 and 2025. This past fiscal year marked the first for the company to be charged with the United Arab Emirates’ new corporate tax of 9%.

The carrier had revenues of $34.9 billion, compared to $33 billion the year prior. Those revenues put it behind other private carriers, like Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc., which led the industry with revenue of $61.6 billion last year.

However, Emirates’ $5.2 billion in profit put it to the front of the pack. Emirates operates hand-in-glove with Dubai International Airport, flying at all hours from a hub in a country where unions are illegal. Falling crude oil prices also aids its profits, like other airlines.

The carrier said its 260 aircraft fly to 148 locations around the world. It has long relied on the Boeing 777 and the double-decker Airbus A380, though it has also begun introducing the Airbus A350 to its schedule. It’s undertaking a multibillion-dollar retrofitting campaign for its aircraft and says it doesn’t expect its first Boeing 777-9 until 2027.

Emirates serves as a crucial link in East-West travel and is the crown jewel of what experts and diplomats refer to as “Dubai Inc.” — a series of interconnected companies overseen by the sheikhdom’s ruling Al Maktoum family. The Emirates Group accounts for around 15% of Dubai’s entire gross domestic product in 2023, and includes coffee shops, restaurants, liquor sales and other industries.

“Emirates is not just a transport company; it is a tool for economic transformation for the UAE, a strategic bridge connecting the world’s continents and a developmental carrier flying us through the skies toward the future,” wrote Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, on the social platform X.

The Emirates’ results track with those for its base, Dubai International Airport. The world’s busiest airport for international travelers had a record 92.3 million passengers pass through its terminals in 2024.

The airport now plans to move to the city-state’s second, sprawling airfield in its southern desert reaches in the next decade in a project worth nearly $35 billion.

A real-estate boom and the city’s highest-ever tourism numbers have made Dubai a destination as well as a layover. However, the city is now grappling with increasing traffic and costs, pressuring both its Emirati citizens and the foreign residents who power its economy.

As one of seven hereditarily ruled, autocratic sheikhdoms that make up the UAE, Dubai provided Emirates with around $4 billion in a bailout at the height of the pandemic. In its report on Thursday, Emirates said that it had repaid $3.6 billion of that loan.