LONDON—Emirates Airline, the world’s largest carrier in terms of international traffic, said first-half profit rose 8% amid a turbulent environment for the global aviation sector this year.

The Dubai-based airline said net profit in the first half of 2014 amounted to $514 million, up 8% compared with the corresponding period a year earlier. Revenue totaled $12 billion, up 11% from a year ago. Fuel accounted for 38% of operating costs in the first half, it added.

Emirates said it carried 23.3 million passengers between April 1 and Sept. 30, an increase of 8.4% from the corresponding period last year.

The aviation industry has been plagued this year by conflict in the Middle East, the continued threat of the Ebola epidemic in Africa and the two Malaysia Airline disasters.

Despite the challenging landscape for the industry, Emirates said it expanded its global route network by launching services to four new destinations, including Abuja in Nigeria, Chicago, Oslo and Brussels. It now flies to 146 destinations in 83 countries, up from 137 cities in 77 countries at the same time last year.

Emirates, which is now the largest operator of both the Airbus Group NV A380 and Boeing Co. 777, received 13 widebody aircraft in the first half, including six A380s and seven Boeing 777s, and has 11 more new aircraft scheduled to be delivered before the end of the financial year on March 31 , 2015.

Emirates Group, which includes a raft of other businesses—hotels, a tour operator and airports operator Dnata—reported a first-half profit of $607 million, up 1% on the year.