Emirates aims to start repaying Dubai $4.1bn in Covid aid

Dubai’s Emirates hopes that it will soon start paying back the 15 billion dirhams ($4.1 billion) in state assistance it receive from the government during the pandemic, its chairman said on Monday.

The Dubai government injected billions of dollars into its flagship airline via equity injections over the course of the pandemic that had at one stage crippled international travel.

Sheikh Ahmed said the government, the airline’s sole shareholder, would be repaid through dividend payments without saying how much could be paid this year or when the entire amount would be repaid.