A Solid Performance

Etihad Airways turned in a solid operational performance in 2015, achieving continued growth in both passenger and cargo volumes.

The airline carried 17.4 million passengers last year, an increase of 17% over 2014 levels, and it operated 97,400 flights which covered 467 million kilometres.

The growth in passenger demand continued to surpass the airline’s capacity increase, underscoring the strength of its long-term growth strategy.

In total, Etihad Airways carried more than 75% of the total passengers who travelled to and from Abu Dhabi International Airport in 2015.

With the addition of the airline’s equity partners that operate flights into the UAE capital, the combined total rises to 84% of passenger traffic at Abu Dhabi International Airport.

James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ president and CEO said: “In 2015, we were able to bring new competitive choice to millions of travellers, through our award-winning services and through the growing networks of our equity partners. No airline group is doing more to stimulate new competition in the aviation industry.”

Etihad Airways introduced six additional destinations to its global route network in 2015, with new flights to Kolkata, Madrid, Edinburgh, Entebbe, Hong Kong, and Dar es Salaam, and a new direct service to Brisbane.

2015 also saw Etihad Airways’ fleet boosted with the deployment of the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, which entered commercial service on routes to Washington DC, Zurich, Singapore and Brisbane. The Airbus A380 network was expanded with a second service to London Heathrow and new flights to Sydney and New York.

In 2016, the airline will commence its third daily A380 service to London Heathrow, and will add two new A380 destinations of Mumbai and Melbourne, while the Boeing 787 will start flying to five new cities, namely Düsseldorf, Perth, Shanghai, Istanbul and Johannesburg.

Hogan observed: “We enter 2016 with confidence as a stronger, more dynamic airline that will continue to support the evolution of Abu Dhabi as a global aviation hub.”

However, he also pointed out that: “We continue to face challenges, not least the protectionism of the major American and European legacy carriers. We will continue to fight to bring new competitive choice to travellers around the world.”

Go to http://www.etihad.com for more.