Qantas has returned to the black with its alliance with Emirates almost halving losses on international operations.
The Australian airline made a net profit of A$6 million (£3.5million) in the 12 months to June 30 against a loss of A$244 million in the previous year.
Qantas’ earnings were also lifted by a A$125 million settlement it received from Boeing after it cancelled 787 orders.
Chief executive Alan Joyce said: “This result shows good progress in the group’s strategy against a challenging backdrop – with high fuel costs and intense competition.”
The underlying loss of A$246 million in its international division represents a near halving of losses compared with last year.
Almost 500,000 Qantas passengers have travelled through Dubai so far.
“Codeshare bookings by Qantas customers on Emirates’ network are running at about twice the level of our previous network to Europe – which included BA, Cathay, Air France and Iberia,” Joyce said.
“We are two years into our five-year turnaround plan for Qantas International – and we are on track towards our target of a return to profit in full year 2015.
“We have restructured Qantas International’s network around a series of global gateways.
“The Emirates partnership is the latest and most important element of this strategy. It gives us a clear network advantage over our competitors to London and Europe and it is performing strongly, in line with our expectations.
“We saw a surge in bookings when the partnership went on sale, reflecting latent demand. Since then bookings have stabilised and continue to be very strong.”
He added that bookings by Emirates passengers on the Qantas domestic network are running at about three times the level of the previous network.