Etihad cuts losses despite failure of European partnerships
Etihad Airways managed to reduce its loss by US$432 million to $1.52 billion last year despite its European equity partners Alitalia and airberlin entering administration.
The airline said other challenges during 2017 included ‘significant’ fuel price increases.
Revenues from core operations were up 1.9% to $6.1 billion. Both passenger and cargo yields improved following an increased focus on point-to-point traffic and improving market conditions.
It carried 18.6 million passengers last year at a 78.5% load factor.
Unit costs were down 7.3% despite the higher fuel costs, which the airline put down to a strong focus on efficiency.
Chairman of Etihad Aviation Group Mohamed Mubarak Fadhel Al Mazrouei said: "Our airline continues to be a key driver of Abu Dhabi’s vision to develop its tourism sector, grow commerce and strengthen links to key regional and international markets.
"This was a pivotal year in Etihad’s transformation journey. The Board, new executive leadership team and all our employees worked extremely hard to navigate the challenges we faced. We made significant progress in driving improved performance and we are on track in 2018."
Group CEO Tony Douglas added: "We made good progress in improving the quality of our revenues, streamlining our cost base, improving our cash-flow and strengthening our balance sheet.
"These are solid first steps in an ongoing journey to transform this business into one that is positioned for financially sustainable growth over the long term. I would like to thank our people for their hard work and dedication in 2017.
"It is crucial that we maintain this momentum, retaining talent and attracting leading professionals from around the world to work alongside our highly-skilled UAE national workforce."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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