Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways has posted its biggest nine-month profit, driven by an expanding fleet catering to the increasing travel demand in the UAE.
Net profit after tax in the nine months ended September 30 soared 26 per cent year-on-year to a record Dh1.7 billion ($463 million), Etihad said in a statement on Thursday.
Revenue grew 18 per cent annually to Dh21.7 billion, as passenger revenue jumped 20 per cent to Dh18.2 billion and cargo revenue added 8 per cent to Dh3.2 billion.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) – a key measure of profitability – leapt 27 per cent year-on-year to Dh4.3 billion.
“Etihad’s performance this year has set a new benchmark, outpacing the market and driving nearly half of the UAE’s total passenger growth,” said Antonoaldo Neves, chief executive of Etihad. “It's a clear validation of our strategy, the strength of our team and the appeal of Abu Dhabi as a world-class destination."
The airline's operating fleet grew 19 per cent annually to 115 aircraft at the end of September, which, Etihad said, is "one of the busiest delivery periods" in its history, driving a more than 20 per cent increase in available seat kilometres for the third quarter.
That helped Etihad serve about 16.1 million passengers in the first nine months of the year, marking an 18 per cent annual increase and another record for the period.
The airline's larger fleet "enabled it to continue building network scale and connectivity", resulting in the operation of nearly 300 passenger flights daily to more than 100 destinations, it added.
Etihad has also hired more than 2,600 new staff, including about 200 pilots and 1,500 cabin crew, over the nine-month period. That was an increase of more than half compared to the 1,700 total it reported for the first half of 2025.
Etihad's record performances reflect the strength of the UAE's aviation and travel sectors, as well as government programmes to promote the Emirates as a centre for business and tourism.
In addition, the Arab world's second-largest economy has invested heavily in technology to speed up the flow of passengers at its airports, eased its visa policies and is expected to benefit from the unified Gulf tourist visa that allows travellers to visit countries in the six-nation GCC bloc with a single visa.
The UAE is expected to host 27.6 million international visitors in 2025 – up 4.6 per cent from last year and whose spending in the country is expected to grow to $62.2 billion – on the back of travel-friendly policies and infrastructure improvements, the World Travel and Tourism Council said in a report in September.
Etihad aims to keep apace with growing travel demand with its network, which welcomed the Atlanta, Al Alamein, Salalah, Kazan and Krakow routes in the third quarter. In Europe alone, the airline has added more than 500,000 seats so far this year, "reinforcing its role in supporting Abu Dhabi’s inbound tourism growth", it said.
That brought the number of new destinations launched or announced over the past 12 months to 31, "underscoring Etihad’s commitment to making Abu Dhabi one of the most connected cities in the world", the airline said.
Etihad is set to further expand its fleet. The airline is scheduled to receive the first of its Boeing 777X planes in 2031 and is unaffected by the programme's seven-year delay, Mr Neves told The National last month.
It also plans to return two of its Airbus A380 superjumbos to the skies, amid a global shortage in planes and persistent supply-chain bottlenecks, on June 15, 2026, and January 1, 2027, the airline had previously told The National.
Etihad's future plans include the possible use of cryptocurrencies for payments, investing “a lot” in technology to close gaps in payment structures, Mr Neves said in September.
