Etihad flying high in first quarter

Johannesburg – Etihad Airways has enjoyed a record-breaking first quarter and remains on track to achieve its 2008 target of carrying six million passengers by the end of the year.The Abu Dhabi-based airline carried 1.4 million passengers during the first three months of 2008, compared to one million for the same period in 2007, an increase of 40 per cent.

Craig Thomas, country manager for Etihad said: ‘In South Africa we carried over 14,000 passengers in the first quarter of 2008 reflecting the overall growth of the airline with an increase of 54% from the same period in 2007. In this region the growth can be largely attributed to the revised schedule for travellers which commenced in August 2007, reducing transit times for both South and Southern African travellers.’

“Going forward, we are able to offer Guests an even smoother timetable with the revision of the schedule between Johannesburg and Abu Dhabi on the 30th of March 2008. Flights to Abu Dhabi, which currently depart Johannesburg at 10.20am on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, will instead depart at 1.35pm,” continued Thomas.

The airline achieved average seat factors of 75 per cent across its network of 45 destinations during the first quarter of 2008, which covers the months of January, February and March.

Year-on-year, the airline’s seat factor has increased by seven percentage points as Etihad continues to expand its global flight schedule and add aircraft to a fleet which will grow to 40 by the end of 2008.

Yield, the average amount received per ticket, also rose by 25 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Etihad has launched one new destination so far in 2008, starting flights to Beijing on 30 March. In the summer, the airline will also begin flying to Kozhikode (Calicut) and Chennai (Madras), after securing flying rights earlier this year to four new destinations in India. Etihad is currently finalising when it will commence flights to the two other Indian destinations of Jaipur and Kolkata (Calcutta).

The airline also plans to fly to Moscow and the Kazakh city of Almaty in December 2008 and to the Belarus capital of Minsk early next year. Etihad will also boost its flying programme to Australia by the end of 2008, by increasing its existing daily service to Sydney to 11 flights per week.

James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ chief executive, said: “The performance of Etihad during the first quarter of 2008 has been outstanding, breaking all previous records. As we continue to expand our global network and strengthen our schedule, we remain confident of achieving our target of carrying six million passengers by the end of the year.

“I would like to acknowledge the support and close cooperation Etihad continues to receive from Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC), Abu Dhabi Airport Services and the Department of Transport in achieving these fantastic figures.”

During the first quarter of 2008, all Etihad’s cabins experienced increased seat factors compared to the same period in 2007, with particularly strong performances coming from the airline’s first and business class cabins.

Etihad’s Asia Pacific services turned in a particularly strong performance with overall seat factors averaging 85 per cent across the region, led by Bangkok (91 per cent), Sydney (88 per cent), Manila (86 per cent) and Jakarta (84 per cent).
Within Europe, services to Brussels, Manchester and Paris all achieved average seat factors of 85 per cent, whilst loads to Toronto in North America exceeded 80 per cent.

Routes in the Middle East which performed well during the quarter include Amman and Damascus, achieving average seat factors of 81 and 75 per cent, respectively.

Services to northern Pakistan continued to experience strong demand during the first quarter, with Lahore achieving an average seat factor of 85 per cent. Meanwhile, the Egyptian capital of Cairo remains the airline’s most popular African route, achieving a seat factor of 81 per cent.

A key highlight of the first quarter has been the performance of Etihad’s premium cabins. Across the network, the airline’s award-winning business class cabin achieved an average seat factor of 77 per cent, with particularly strong performances on routes to Bangkok (92 per cent), Sydney (90 per cent), Brussels (90 per cent) and Paris (89 per cent).

James said: “For seat factors in business class to be higher than the economy cabin is highly unusual and certainly one of the most pleasing features of our quarter one performance. These figures provide positive evidence that the continued investment we are placing during 2008 upon improving the products and services we offer our premium customers is paying dividends.”

The announcement of Etihad’s first quarter performance follows the recent introduction of the airline’s new summer flying programme. The programme, 47 per cent larger than summer 2007, will see Etihad operate a total of 728 weekly flights compared to 494 in the same period last year.

In addition to the new routes to Beijing and Calicut, Etihad Airways is increasing the frequency of its flights to a number of key destinations within the GCC, Middle East, Europe, Indian sub-continent, Africa and the Asia Pacific region.

Etihad’s strong network across the Middle East is being strengthened further this summer, with extra weekly services from Abu Dhabi to Amman (six flights at present to 10), Beirut (eight to 11) and Damascus (six to 10). Within Europe, flights to the Irish capital of Dublin have increased from six flights a week to a daily service.

Etihad flights to the Egyptian capital of Cairo are increasing from 10 flights a week to 12 and to the Sudanese capital of Khartoum from four flights a week to five. Within the Indian sub-continent, the airline’s existing 13 flights a week service to Karachi in Pakistan is being boosted to a twice-daily service.

The first quarter of 2008 has also witnessed a record performance from Etihad’s cargo division. Etihad Crystal Cargo has seen more than 60,000 global shipments, an increase of 20 per cent compared to the first three months of 2007. These shipments had a combined weight of more than 43,000 tonnes.

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