Etihad Airways’ growing number of codeshares and strategic partnerships saw the airline carry a record number of passengers in Q2 as revenue growth surged ahead of capacity increases.
The carrier reported revenues of US$1.25 billion (AU$1.22b) for the quarter, up 31% on the same period the previous year. The figure takes its first half revenues to US$2.24 billion (AU$2.18b), an increase of 30% year on year.
Passenger numbers jumped to a record 2.55 million for the quarter, up 34% year on year, totalling 4.89 million for the half year. Partner airlines together fed 800,000 passengers into the Etihad network over the six month period, contributing US$281 million (AU$274m).
“These results are an endorsement of our strategy which has seen us widen and deepen our partnerships in addition to continued focus on our organic growth plan,” chief executive James Hogan said.
“In a quarter when many airlines have seen demand softening, we have been able to add more passengers than ever before, with growth outstripping our capacity increases.”
Capacity grew 25% for the quarter to 15.2 billion available seat kilometres, with load factor rising 4.6 percentage points to 77.6%.
Meanwhile, Hogan predicted a successful full year for the airline, despite challenging market conditions.
“We remain focused and on track to deliver profitability for the full year, for the second year running,” he said.
The quarter saw Etihad take minority equity stakes in Aer Lingus and Virgin Australia, while adding to its shareholdings in Airberlin and Air Seychelles. Its passenger network rose to 308 destinations.
