Foundation Year Research Project: Emirates Airline & COVID-19 Impact

This report investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Emirates Airline, a major player in the UAE's aviation and tourism sectors. It examines the airline's financial performance, operational adjustments, and workforce management strategies during and after the crisis. The report analyzes revenue declines, passenger reductions, and cost-cutting measures implemented by Emirates, including workforce reductions and salary adjustments. It also evaluates the airline's strategic responses, such as converting passenger planes for cargo transport and enhancing safety protocols. The research methodology relies on secondary data analysis to assess the airline's financial position and strategic decisions. The report concludes by highlighting Emirates Airline's resilience in safeguarding its market position despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, emphasizing the importance of adaptive strategies and careful analysis of business opportunities.

BUSINESS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Impact of COVID-19 on the Emirates Airlines..........................................................................3
The Objectives of the Research...................................................................................................3
Groundwork of the Research......................................................................................................3
LITERATUE REVIEW...................................................................................................................4
METHODOLOGY..........................................................................................................................4
RESEARCH ANALYSIS................................................................................................................5
Enumeration of the financial position of the Emirates Airlines post pandemic.........................5
Evaluation of the measures adopted to curb the contingencies...................................................6
The status of the workforce in the Emirates Airlines..................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
The coordination between the organisations and the business activities is explained
through the study of the business management. The level of optimality is duly maintained
through the effective and efficient utilisation of the scope of direction (Belfer, 2022). This report
deals with the affect upon the business and tourism management due to the consequences of the
pandemic over the Emirates Airlines. It is the largest airline business and one of the two most
prominent carriers of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The outcomes of the Covid -19 has
significantly influenced the functioning of the airlines. The study will thus highlight the facets of
the situation in a brief yet considerable manner.
MAIN BODY
Impact of COVID-19 on the Emirates Airlines.
For the very first time in more than three consecutive decades, the generation of the
profits by the airlines was not according to the expected returns. The affluence of the pandemic
has severely disrupted the functioning of the Dubai based airline (Brown, 2022). The loss that has
been experienced in the year 2021 was about 5.5 billion, resulted due to the pit fall of around
66% in the revenue that was collected. In terms of the number of the passengers, an astonishing
declination of approximately 90% in the total capacity was experienced.
The Objectives of the Research.
 The gains as well as the losses experienced by the Emirates Airlines in the pandemic.
 The measures adopted during the timespan of COVID-19.
 The dismissal and employment with the airlines during and after the pandemic.
Groundwork of the Research.
The problems that were faced by the airlines was in considerable amount resulting in the
termination of the flights for about eight weeks in the month of march of the year 2020. the
airports was shut down which is considered to be the busiest airport on an international level.
This damaged the financial position it withholds on a global level (Gavilan and et. al., 2022). The
company noted down aggravated financial losses but somehow managed to regain the position
because of the viable strategies that were adopted in their plan of action for the long term growth.
The research thus will based upon the chief questions that has be enumerated in order to
comprehend the objectives of the study.

 Enumeration of the financial position of the Emirates Airlines post pandemic.
 Evaluation of the measures adopted to curb the contingencies.
 The state of employment within the Emirates Airlines
LITERATUE REVIEW
The surveys that has been conducted by now is in the respect of the condition of the
Emirates Airlines and the other airline businesses relevant to the investigation, will be critically
evaluated in this section. Rajee Olaganathan, in his paper, “Impact of COVID-19 on Airline
Industry and Strategic Plan for its Recovery with Special Reference to Data Analytics
Technology”, significantly pointed out the status of the airline industry in respect to the
affluences of the pandemic though an effectual analysis of the operations, measures and suitable
recommendations to improve the augmented progress. Balsam Qubais Saeed and et. al., in their
study, “COVID-19 health awareness among the United Arab Emirates population”, highlighted
the measures adopted by the UAE government to mitigate the effects of the virus. The criteria
followed for the personnel working in the companies were also incorporated in the guidelines
provided by the governing bodies. The OECD report for the year 2021, suggested the befitting
policies to make use in order to fight against the novel coronavirus for cumbering the losses that
are faced by the aviation sector.
METHODOLOGY
In order to elucidate the objectives of the study, the observations will be based upon the
data collected through the secondary medium in respect to the financial projections of the
Emirates Airlines during and post the COVID-19 (Gupta, Shukla and Pandiya, 2022). The impact
over the employment of the personnel due to this catastrophic condition will be highlighted. The
utilisation of the appropriate chart, an analysis made upon them will be subjugated in the report.
The relevant citations will be provided according to which the conclusion will be inferred. The
obstacles that were faced during and after the situation will further be examined. The research
will prove to be an influential piece of work that will display the actual performance of the airline
industry in the time of pandemic.

RESEARCH ANALYSIS
Enumeration of the financial position of the Emirates Airlines post pandemic.
The business generated in the cargo transport and other carriers supported in order to
perform viably and effectively because of the resonation provided to the aviation business that
helped in restoring the financial vantage (Hossain, and et. al., 2022). The focus was bestowed
upon restoring the passenger network as soon as the restrictions were lifted by restating the
services provided by them. Emirates carried 6.1 million passengers between 1 April and 30
September 2021, up 319% from the same period last year.
 Group: Receipts up to 81% of the AED 24.7 billion (US$ 6.7 billion), and an appropriate
loss of AED 5.7 billion (US$ 1.6 billion) post the last year’s loss of AED 14.1 billion
(US$ 3.8 billion). This thus can give a brighter picture of the recovery across the
segments of the business resulted because of the easing of the COVID 19 travel
restrictions.
 Emirates: The revenue inclined to about 86% which is about, AED 21.7 billion (US$ 5.9
billion), and the loss was of AED 5.8 billion (US$ 1.6 billion) as compared to AED 12.6
billion (US$ 3.4 billion) loss for the same period last year. Revenue recuperation backed
up by the acceleration in the passenger demand and uninterrupted strong cargo business.
Impelled by the momentous modification in the operations during the initial six months of the
year 2021, Emirate's EBITDA recovered to AED 5.0 billion (US$ 1.4 billion) compared to AED
290 million (US$ 79 million) for the same period last year (Kohli and Habibi, 2022).

Evaluation of the measures adopted to curb the contingencies
The plan of action that was opted to survive in the market by the Emirates Airlines will be
explained in this segment of the analysis (Koppalakrishnan and Muuka, 2022). The measures that
were taken to implement an authoritative scheme are as follows:
 Cutting the costs – The lay off in a substantial number of employees from the
organisation has lead to generate a scope for the survival in the market. The workforce
was reduced by 15 % as per the official reports in order to reserve the salary amount of
tmoney of the personnel.
 Level up the travel experience – The introduction of the rapid testing of the COVID-19
was an initiative taken for the first time by any airline operating in the market. The safety
Illustration 1: Emirates Group's revenue in FY 2009/2010 to FY 2020/2021

measures were in accordance to the guidelines. The assurance of providing with the
COVID-19 insurance was included in the strategical plan of the Emirates Airlines
(Kotcharin, Maneenop and Jaroenjitrkam, 2022).
 Servicing the growth opportunities - Emirates Sky-cargo transformed 10 Boeing 777-
300ER aircraft from passenger planes to cargo planes. All the economy seating areas were
abstracted in order to ship up to 17 tons of extra consignment. While passenger travel was
downfield, some B2B freight travel requested an increase. Many neighbourly regions
required additive medical provisions, so tapping into this new need was unquestionably a
smart plan of action.
The status of the workforce in the Emirates Airlines.
The management of the airlines has taken intense measures to contain the costs to
rejuvenate the outlook of the travel business for a short span of time (Kovalchuk, 2022). The
situations that were risen due to the pandemic affected the financial facets of the Emirates
Airlines. This regards to:
 The postponement or disbursement of the discretionary expenditure of the group.
 The implementation of a pause over the non-essential recruitments along with the
consultancy work.
 In order to cut down the flying capacity, workers were encouraged to take paid or
gratuitous leaves were provided to them (Macário and Van de Voorde, 2022).
Illustration 2: Safety measure adopted by the
Emirates Airlines

 The president of the Emirates Airlines took 100% salary cut of the employees for a fixed
period of three months.
The organisation wanted to avoid cutting the jobs. Instead of asking the employees to leave the
commercial enterprise, the Emirates Airlines chose to utilize the strategy of temporary
fundamental salary cut in order to protect the manpower and retain the talented and the proficient
people, as much as possible (Monteiro and et. al., 2022)..
CONCLUSION
An inference can thus made that in order to cumbersome the aggravated situation risen
due to the pandemic, despite of the losses, the Emirates Airlines was capable enough to safeguard
its position in the airline industry. Certain strict measures were indeed adopted to rectify the gaps
in the financial aspects of the organisation. The opportunities that were present in the business
environment were carefully analysed and the feasible ones were considered in a befitting mode.
The objectives of the report are thereby critically elucidated along with the suitable
commendations.

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