Etihad’s Revenues Grow 29% In Q3 2014

Abu Dhabi carrier Etihad has announced that its revenues grew 29 per cent year-on-year to reach $1.8 billion during the third quarter of 2014.

The boost in third quarter revenues was mainly due to rising passenger demand and cargo growth during the summer, the airline said in a statement.

Etihad recorded around 3.9 million passengers in the third quarter, up 30 per cent from the three million passengers recorded during the same period last year.

Codeshare and equity partnerships in Q3 2014, delivered an estimated 1.1 million passengers onto Etihad Airways flights – a 41 per cent year-on-year increase – and contributed revenues worth $352 million, representing 27 per cent of the airline’s passenger revenue.

The Abu Dhabi carrier owns stake in airberlin, Air Seychelles, Virgin Australia, Aer Lingus, Air Serbia and Jet Airways. The company recently bought a 49 per cent the Italian carrier Alitalia after a year of talks and will invest up to $751 million in the loss-making airline.

Etihad Cargo also grew, carrying 144,498 tonnes of freight and mail during Q3, a year-on-year increase of nine per cent, on only one per cent capacity growth.

The growth in passenger demand and revenue during the three-month period also outstripped the airline’s capacity increase, the statement added.

The airline said it foresees a strong growth in 2014, having carried 10.5 million passengers and almost 415,000 tonnes of cargo between January and September 2014.

“Our focus on organic growth, codeshare partnerships and minority investments in other airlines has continued to produce strong results, despite the prevalence of industry challenges such as volatile oil prices, economic and political instability, overcapacity in the market, and access constraints,” said James Hogan, president and CEO of Etihad Airways.

“We are confident about sustaining our profitability in 2014 and there are a number of important milestones in the final quarter, including the entry into service of Etihad Airways’ ground-breaking Airbus A380 and Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner in our striking new livery.

“These aircraft will feature our next generation first, business and economy class products, together with The Residence by Etihad, the world’s first three-room private cabin. In addition, we will introduce Phuket, San Francisco and Dallas into our network over the remainder of this year.”

Etihad has launched a number of new routes in 2014 with the airline beginning services to Yerevan, Perth and Rome. It also increased the frequencies on eight existing routes, including Dublin, Athens and Chennai.

The Abu Dhabi carrier will launch flights to the Thai city of Phuket in October and to San Francisco and Dallas in November and December respectively.