"Four brutal years" was how the UK’s Airline Business magazine described the struggle by carriers to compete in the global aviation industry, with the rise in jet fuel prices seemingly unstoppable. As His Highness has said, although we have some of the best fuel managers in the business, we were US$528 million (Dhs1.9 billion) worse than our pessimistic forecast of fuel costs made at the beginning of the year. "The worst crisis in our history" was how Giovanni Bisignani, (the Director General and CEO of IATA) described the present climate in the commercial aviation industry.

But despite these gloomy circumstances, the group has returned a most satisfactory result with a net profit of US$762 million (Dhs2.8 billion). This result compares very favourably, we believe, with the most efficient of our competitors, giving us a net profit margin of 11.5% - significantly higher than other fullservice airlines. At the same time the group has been expanding, the airline achieving these results from a 19% increased capacity, and Dnata operating in a highly competitive market, while opening up new businesses outside the UAE.