Emirates spent 1.448 billion US dollars on inflight catering and services during the financial year ended March 31, 2026, an increase of about 155.2 million dollars from the previous year, according to the airline's annual financial statements.

The figure was 12 percent higher than the 1.292 billion dollars recorded a year earlier and works out to an average of about 120.6 million dollars a month, or roughly 3.98 million dollars a day. On a daily basis, Emirates spent about 424,800 dollars more than it did in the previous financial year.

The airline's accounts classify the expense under "inflight catering and services," a category broader than meals and drinks alone. It accounted for about 4.9 percent of Emirates' total operating costs of 29.44 billion dollars during the year.

The annual report shows inflight catering and services was Emirates' seventh-largest operating cost, behind jet fuel, employee costs, depreciation and amortisation, sales and marketing, handling and aircraft maintenance. Aircraft maintenance alone cost 1.642 billion dollars, slightly above the catering and services bill.

The increase in catering costs was considerably faster than the airline's overall cost growth. Emirates said total operating costs rose 2 percent during the financial year, while its fuel bill, still its largest single expense, fell to 8.496 billion dollars from 8.877 billion dollars.

The higher catering bill came during a year in which Emirates continued to broaden its global network and invest heavily in the passenger experience. The airline added four destinations - Da Nang, Hangzhou, Siem Reap and Shenzhen - taking its network to 152 cities in 80 countries by the end of March. Total passenger and cargo capacity increased 1 percent.

Emirates carried 53.2 million passengers during the year, while continuing a multibillion-dollar cabin retrofit programme and introducing new onboard products and services. By March 31, 91 aircraft had completed full cabin refurbishments as part of the airline's 5 billion dollar retrofit programme.

The airline reported record revenue of 35.64 billion dollars and profit after tax of 5.364 billion dollars for 2025-26, its strongest profit performance to date.

Source: Gulf News