The Etihad Airways chief executive James Hogan said on Tuesday that the airline would continue to “face challenges” from protectionism in the US and Europe this year as it fights to bring “new competitive choice” to its passengers.
The Abu Dhabi carrier flew 17.4 million passengers last year – a 17 per cent increase on 2014 – and operated 97,400 flights, covering 467 million kilometres, it said. Etihad and its equity partners combined accounted for 84 per cent of passenger traffic at Abu Dhabi International Airport.
“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,” Mr Hogan said.
Etihad owns minority stakes in Alitalia, airberlin, Air Serbia, Air Seychelles, Jet Airways, Virgin Australia and the Swiss regional carrier Darwin Airline. It said that its partnerships delivered more than 5 million passengers on to its flights last year, reflecting a rise of almost 43 per cent over the 3.5 million passengers in 2014.
However, the threat of regulatory action driven by its European and American rivals remains.
“We continue to face challenges, not least the protectionism of the major American and European legacy carriers,” said Mr Hogan. “[However] we will continue to fight to bring new competitive choice to travellers around the world.”
During the past 12 months, Etihad and its Arabian Gulf peers Emirates and Qatar Airways have been under increasing regulatory scrutiny amid allegations from American and European rivals of unfair practices in breach of open skies agreements, claims which the Gulf carriers refute. Etihad is locked in a legal dispute in Germany, after a court ruled that the country’s ministry of transport was entitled to stop it from selling tickets on some routes operated by airberlin, Germany’s second-largest airline.
Etihad added new destinations last year, increasing frequencies on existing routes and signing codeshare agreements with other airlines.
In 2015, Etihad introduced six new destinations including Kolkata, Madrid, Edinburgh and Hong Kong and increased frequencies on 16 existing routes.
Its fleet grew by 9 per cent to 121 aircraft by the end of last year including new A380s and Boeing Dreamliners, making it “one of the youngest” fleets in the industry at an average of 5.8 years, Etihad said. This year Etihad expects to receive 10 aircraft including two Boeing 777-200 Freighters.
selgazzar@thenational.ae
Follow The National's Business section on Twitter
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
FROM%20THE%20ASHES
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Khalid%20Fahad%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Shaima%20Al%20Tayeb%2C%20Wafa%20Muhamad%2C%20Hamss%20Bandar%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
Banned items
Dubai Police has also issued a list of banned items at the ground on Sunday. These include:
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Political flags or banners
-
Bikes, skateboards or scooters
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The Bloomberg Billionaire Index in full
1 Jeff Bezos $140 billion
2 Bill Gates $98.3 billion
3 Bernard Arnault $83.1 billion
4 Warren Buffett $83 billion
5 Amancio Ortega $67.9 billion
6 Mark Zuckerberg $67.3 billion
7 Larry Page $56.8 billion
8 Larry Ellison $56.1 billion
9 Sergey Brin $55.2 billion
10 Carlos Slim $55.2 billion
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
