''We are very pleased to announce half-yearly profits at a time when confidence in the airline industry has been shaken by the recent tragic events in the US, and by the earlier global air traffic shortfall,' says Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum, the chairman of Emirates. 'Our focus now is to maintain a strict regime of cost management across the company to ensure that our results at the end of this financial year will continue to return a profit.'

The publication of sturdy financials comes days after the signing of a new $87 million financing package for the acquisition of the 19th of 27 Airbus A330-200 aircraft currently on firm order. The new A330-200 is due for delivery on 26 November and will bring the total Emirates fleet of the aircraft to 37.

The 12-year Japanese operating lease, which is a combination of Japanese equity and commercial debt, was lead arranged by Credit Agricole Indosuez. Other participants in the facility include National Bank of Dubai, Lloyds TSB, DGZ DekaBank-Deutsche Kommunalbank, Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentraleand Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau. The facility was priced at 75 basis points over Libor.