UAE national carrier Etihad Airways said it revenue for the first quarter rose 19 per cent to hit $900 million from $758 million last year on the back of increased passenger numbers and its wide-ranging partnerships.

Announcing the Q1 results, Etihad said its passenger numbers too have witnessed solid growth in the first quarter rising from 2.3 million to a record 2.8 million posting a 18 per cent growth. Its cargo revenues too rose to hit $193 million, up 17 per cent over $165 million last year.

Abu Dhabi's flagship carrier, this year, is celebrating its 10th anniversary of operations.

Commenting on the results, Etihad president and CEO James Hogan said, “Our first quarter 13 results have again outstripped global trends, with our strongest ever first quarter results for passenger revenue. This performance demonstrates that Etihad Airways’ strategy of organic growth, wide-ranging partnerships, and strategic equity investments is delivering for us and our partners.”

Revenue from codeshare and equity partners jumped by 34 per cent from $136 million to $182 million in the first three months of the year and represented 20 per cent of total revenue in the quarter.

“As well as increasing top-line revenue, our equity partnerships will improve bottom-line results, through cost savings delivered by operational synergies,” Hogan added.

The average seat factor was 80.5 per cent, four percentage points higher than the previous year despite a 12 per cent increase in capacity. The seat factor is above IATA’s current global average of 77.1 per cent.

Etihad Cargo also had its strongest first quarter, with tonnage up 20 per cent from 85,152 to 101,776 tonnes.

Etihad Airways’ equity alliance comprises airberlin, Air Seychelles, Virgin Australia, and Aer Lingus. Each airline announced profitable results during the first quarter of 2013, which demonstrates the success of this new alliance model for all the member airlines.

In February, Etihad had announced a $42 million profit for 2012 with revenues of $4.8 billion and passenger numbers breaking 10 million for the first time.

Etihad Airways’ available seat kilometres (ASKs) rose 12 per cent in the first quarter to 15.9 billion compared to 14.3 billion as the fleet grew to 73 passenger and cargo aircraft from 66 aircraft last year.

The revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) also rose 17 per cent to 12.9 billion over 10.9 billion last year sharply out performing capacity growth.

Running counter to industry trends, Etihad Cargo posted new highs in the first quarter. Volumes were up 20 per cent (on capacity growth of 19 per cent). This was driven by a strong performance in North East Asia, combined with good growth from the Indian Subcontinent from mid-February, said Hogan.

According to him, the new twice-weekly freighter operation from Houston to Abu Dhabi also enhanced the results.

Etihad Cargo also took delivery of a new Boeing 777 Freighter, which was deployed on European and African routes during the quarter. A second Boeing 747 freighter entered the fleet at the end of March, taking the total cargo fleet to eight aircraft, said Hogan.

Strong charter cargo results also underpinned the capability and flexibility of the freighter operation, he added.-TradeArabia News Service