Etihad Airways, the national carrier of the UAE reported net profit of $42 million in 2012, up 200 per cent on 2011 ($14 million) in a year which saw strong improvements in revenues, passengers numbers and cost control. Revenue increased 17 per cent to $4.8 billion ($4.1 billion), on passenger numbers up 23 per cent to 10.3 million (8.4 million). These numbers were boosted significantly by Etihad Airways’ equity partnerships and codeshares, which delivered more than $600 million in total revenue.
James Hogan, president and chief executive officer of Etihad Airways, said: “This has been a game-changing year for Etihad Airways. We have taken great strides in building the industry’s first ‘equity alliance’, with our investments in airberlin, Air Seychelles, Virgin Australia and Aer Lingus, which are contributing significant value to our business.”
Equity and codeshare partners delivered more than 1.2 million passengers onto the Etihad Airways network. airberlin, in which Etihad Airways holds a 29.21 per cent stake, made a very strong contribution, with more than 300,000 passengers shared between their networks, delivering more than $130 million in total to the two airlines.
Continuing its development of codeshare relationships, Etihad also strengthened its relationship with Air France-KLM, with the announcement that the UAE flag carrier will wet-lease an Air France Airbus A340-300 for use on the Paris-Abu Dhabi route from May 15 to November 30.
2012 saw the airline fly to six new destinations including Tripoli, Shanghai, Nairobi, Lagos, Ahmedabad and Basra while it increased frequency and capacity of services to Dusseldorf, Bangkok, Kuwait, Dammam, Istanbul, Khartourm and Cairo. The airline has also announced new flights to Washington, Amsterdam, Sao Paolo and Ho Chi Minh City for 2013.
More recently, the airline made its big switch to new, state-of-the-art, passenger sales, website, and check-in systems next week, a significant milestone in its $1 billion, ten-year, deal with Sabre Airline Solutions. The Big Switch will integrate Etihad Airways’ current PSS into one platform that will utilise cutting-edge software across its reservations, inventory, eCommerce, distribution and departure control activities.
Planned fleet upgrades for 2013 include 14 aircraft, with 11 passenger aircraft deliveries and three freighter deliveries. The orders are for nine wide bodied aircraft (6 x Boeing 777-300ER passenger, 2 x Boeing 777 freighter and 1 x Airbus 330 Freighter) and five narrow body aircraft (4 x Airbus 320 and 1 x Airbus 321). These will meet Etihad Airways’ immediate growth requirements.