Etihad Airways delivered another year of sustained growth in 2016, helped by new aircraft, additional frequencies and the introduction of further world-class products. The airline carried 18.5 million guests during the year, up six per cent on 2015.
The airline was also part of the evolution of Etihad Aviation Group, a wider aviation and tourism business which now also includes Etihad Airways Engineering; Airline Equity Partners; Etihad Airport Services and Hala Group. The formation of Etihad Aviation Group was announced in May 2016.
During the year, Etihad Airways operated more than 109,000 scheduled passenger and cargo flights spanning around 446 million kilometres and 112 destinations. Capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASK), grew by nine per cent and passenger traffic, measured by revenue passenger kilometres (RPK), rose by eight per cent. The average load factor held steady at 79 per cent.
Etihad Airways’ fleet of 119 aircraft is one of the youngest and most environmentally-friendly in the industry, with an average age of 6 years. During the year, the airline took delivery of 10 aircraft: three Airbus A380s, five Boeing 787s and two Boeing 777-200 cargo freighters. An additional 12 aircraft are set for delivery in 2017, including nine Boeing 787s, two Airbus A380s and one A330-200 freighter.
Etihad Airways carried more than 76 per cent of the total passengers who travelled to and from Abu Dhabi International Airport in 2016. With the addition of the airline’s equity partners that operate flights into the UAE capital, the combined total rises to 86 per cent of passenger traffic at the airport.
The airline’s codeshare and equity partnerships delivered 5.5 million passengers onto Etihad Airways’ flights, an increase of nine per cent over the five million passengers in 2015.
During 2016, Etihad Cargo carried 592,700 tonnes, which was flat year-on-year. Etihad Cargo expanded its freighter services to several new markets, including Columbus Rickenbacker, Ohio in the US; East Midlands and London Stansted in the UK; Copenhagen; Brussels; Addis Ababa and Casablanca in Africa; Colombo; Muscat; and Zhengzhou in China. This brings the number of freighter-only destinations to 15.
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Source: Etihad Airways