ETIHAD Airways continues its record growth in the third quarter of 2013, with revenue from passenger services exceeding $1 billion for the first time and passenger numbers passing three million. Total revenue rose 11 per cent to $1.4 billion, compared to $1.3 billion in Q3 of 2012, while network-wide passenger load factors reached 81 per cent. Passenger revenues increased by 10 per cent in Q3 2013 to just over $1.03 billion, while cargo revenue was up by 39 per cent to $244 million.
Revenue from its codeshare and equity alliance airline partners reached $247 million in Q3 2013, 36 per cent higher than the $181 million it achieved in Q3 2012. Partnership contributions accounted for 23 per cent of total Q3 passenger revenue, while passenger numbers rose by 11 per cent to 3.06 million (2012: 2.75 million).
James Hogan, president and chief executive officer of Etihad Airways said the Q3 growth occurred in a climate of increasing capacity and on-going price competition while compensating for reduced travel during the Holy Month of Ramadan, which fell across the traditional peak travel months of July and August.
Hogan will now continue to focus on developing partnership strategy. “Headlining our partnership activities, we continued to work closely with regulatory authorities in India as we progressed our plans to acquire 24 per cent of Jet Airways.
“We signed an agreement with the Government of Serbia to enter into a five-year contract to manage Serbia’s national airline, Air Serbia, currently trading as Jat Airways, and integrated its frequent flyer program with our own Etihad Guest. We also increased our stake in Virgin Australia from 10.5 to 17.4 per cent, and launched partnerships with South African Airways, Air Canada, Belavia and Korean Air, taking to 46 our number of codeshare agreements and expanding our virtual network to 375 destinations,” he said.
Etihad Airways introduced only one new route in Q3, to Sana’a, Yemen while increasing capacity on other routes through extra flights or the use of larger aircraft. The airline took delivery of three aircraft- one new narrow-body Airbus A320, one new wide-body Boeing 777-300ER and a leased Airbus A330.
Strengthening its relationship with airberlin, Etihad Airways also unveiled its new European headquarters in Berlin. Located in Potsdamer Platz, the new office houses both Etihad Airways’ European and Germany sales and marketing teams, and includes joint Etihad Airways-airberlin reservation and ticketing counters.
“Looking ahead we are on target to hit our numbers for 2013, and with the opening of this new office, there is no doubt that we’re in Europe and Berlin for the long haul,” concluded Hogan.
Etihad Airways has also announced the launch of direct flights to Los Angeles, California. The expansion of its US operation will see the airline commence non-stop daily flights between its Abu Dhabi home-base and Los Angeles from June 1, 2014, subject to regulatory approvals.
Los Angeles will be the airline’s fourth US destination, joining Chicago, New York and Washington D.C, and will see the airline provide 28 return flights each week between the UAE and US.
Hogan said: “The expansion of the US network also will be of considerable benefit to the growing commercial and cultural ties between the US and UAE, with trade between the two countries set to increase beyond the current annual level of $22.5 billion. The new service will also offer maximum connectivity, via Abu Dhabi, with 25 Etihad Airways destinations across the Middle East region and Indian Subcontinent, 12 of which are in India, catering for the demand from Los Angeles’ diverse and multicultural population.”
Etihad Airways has also launched daily flights to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, catering to the strong demand for business and leisure travel and cargo services between Vietnam and the UAE, the Middle East and Europe.
The new service will add approximately 3,700 new seats a week into the route intensifying competition among airlines for business, leisure and VFR travel from Vietnam to Europe as well as help boost visitor traffic to the UAE and GCC. The Abu Dhabi-Ho Chi Minh City flights are operated by an Airbus A330-200 aircraft with 22 seats in Pearl Business Class and 240 in Coral Economy Class.