Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, has posted its most successful first half year, with revenues up 28 per cent to $1.72 billion, compared to $1.34 billion during the same period last year.

A two per cent reduction in costs per available seat kilometre, despite large increases in oil prices, also helped deliver a positive EBITDAR (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and rentals) in the six months from January 1 for the first time.

James Hogan, Etihad Airways chief executive officer, said the results were achieved despite a still fragile economy and, at times, difficult operating conditions. They mark continued progress towards the airline’s goal of breaking even this year and moving into sustainable profitability in 2012, he added.

Last week flights to two new Chinese cities, Chengdu and Shanghai were announced and services to Male and the Seychelles start on November 1.

“These are exciting new destinations for us. China is a huge market and Chengdu is the economic centre and transportation and communications hub of the country’s booming southwest region,” Hogan said.

“Shanghai is the most populous city in mainland China (23 million) and when combined with our daily flights to the capital Beijing enables us to offer local passengers convenient flight options to the UAE, Middle East, Europe and North America.”

“We are determined to build a schedule which increases customer choice and attracts local point-to-point traffic in line with the Abu Dhabi 2030 plan,” he added.

“Also, we will continue to connect our high growth and emerging markets to Abu Dhabi and the world by linking them through the UAE capital while at the same time expanding our high value premium markets and traffic flows.”

Hogan said passenger revenues rose 21 per cent on the back of a 14 per cent growth in passenger numbers to 3.8 million and 5 per cent growth in passenger yield.

Despite political unrest in the Middle East and the Japanese earthquake, seat factor increased to 72.9 per cent, as against 72.5 per cent during the same period last year.

Etihad’s cargo operations enjoyed strong growth with revenues up by 32 per cent in the first half of the year, bolstered by improvement in tonnage and yields.

“This is a wonderful achievement and Etihad Crystal Cargo plays a hugely important part in the on-going success of the airline as it now contributes 20 per cent of our direct operating revenue,” Hogan said.

These results reflect higher utilisation of the freighter fleet, increased business segmentation and an expansion of trucking operations in the GCC. They were driven by a strong commercial awareness and a focus on optimising network cargo flows, Hogan said. – TradeArabia News Service