São Paulo – The revenues of Etihad Airways, the airline of Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, reached US$ 1.25 billion in the second quarter of this year, a value that represents growth of 31% over the same period in 2011. The company results for the period were disclosed on Wednesday (04).
According to a press statement by the enterprise, the number of passengers rose to 2.55 million in the second quarter of 2012, 34% more than in the same period last year. With this, the company has already transported 4.89 million people in the first half of this year, when revenues totalled US$ 2.24 billion, 30% more than in the first half of 2011.
Etihad attributed the record growth to the growing number of code share agreements and strategic partnerships that brought 800,000 passengers to the company’s network over the last six months, generating revenues of US$ 281 million. During the last quarter, Etihad bought minority shares in airlines Aer Lingus, of Ireland, and Virgin Australia, which was added to other participations in airlines Airberlin, of Germany, and Air Seychelles.
"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," said James Hogan, CEO at Etihad, in the same press statement. "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,” he pointed out
In the second quarter of this year, Etihad launched new flights to Basra, Iraq, and Nairobi, Kenya. The company also announced new code share agreements that increased its transport network to 308 destinations, the largest in the whole of the Gulf, according to the company.
Last month, Etihad also announced that it would start operating the Abu Dhabi – São Paulo route, in June 2013. This will be the first company route to a city in South America.
*Translated by Mark Ament
