The 18% rise in profit, based on strong customer demand, slimmed to US$5.6 billion after the UAE’s recently introduced corporate tax, which was applied for a full financial year for the first time.

“The Emirates Group has raised the bar to set new records for profit, revenue and cash assets,” chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said in a statement.

“The group invested US$3.8 billion in new aircraft, infrastructure and technology ‘to support its growth plans,” the statement said.

Its workforce grew by 9% to an unprecedented 121,223 employees.

The group declared a US$1.6 billion dividend to its owner, the Investment Corporation of Dubai.

Emirates airline, excluding the group’s other businesses, posted a record US$5.8 billion pre-tax profit, up 20% from the year before.

Its revenue grew by 6%, reaching US$34.9 billion.

Emirates’ ground services arm Dnata also boasted a record pre-tax profit of US$430 million, up 2% from last year.

State-owned Emirates Group operates the world’s largest long-haul carrier.

“As of March, it had 314 aircraft pending delivery, including 61 A350s and 205 Boeing 777x,” the statement said.

It said it was retrofitting 219 aircraft at a cost of US$5 billion to make up for delayed aircraft orders.

Sheikh Ahmed had previously said the group was retrofitting 90% of its fleet to make up for the delays.