São Paulo – Etihad Airways, the airline of Abu Dhabi, achieved total revenue of US$ 2.5 billion in the first half of this year. The value, which includes revenue from the transport of both passengers and cargo, is 14% higher than in the same period in 2012. The information was released on Monday (8) in a company statement.
Separated by segment, revenue with passenger transport in the period totalled US$ 1.8 billion, 13% more than in the first six months of last year. While the US$ 411 million generated by cargo in the first half accounted for 19% more than in the first half of 2012.
The company also posted growth in earnings when comparing the second quarter of 2013 with the same period in 2012. From April to June this year, Etihad’s revenues totalled US$ 921 million with passenger transport (+8%) and US$ 216 million in transportation of cargo (+20%), for an aggregate total of US$ 1.32 billion in revenue in the period, including codeshare operation revenues (+7%).
In a statement, James Hogan, President and CEO, stated that the results of the second quarter and first half were achieved despite unstable economic and geopolitical factors, with profits from fares slightly lower for the quarter, pressured by a greater competitive capacity and the resulting price competition.
"Despite the tough global trading climate, we have still achieved record, double digit growth in both Q2 and the first half of 2013," he said. "This reflects not only the continuing popularity of our Abu Dhabi hub, but the growing maturity of our airline partnership strategy and the strength of our cargo operations, which continue to well exceed industry growth rates," he said, in a company press statement.
On June 1, the company started flying the Abu Dhabi-São Paulo route with three weekly flights. At the end of last month, the company announced that, as of August 1, it will have daily flights between the cities.
*Translated by Mark Ament
