Nicole Kidman, Residence suites and a growing network seem to be working a charm for Etihad, as the airline reports its fourth consecutive year of profits.
The airline has revealed last year was the strongest financial 12 months in its entire history, with a net profit of US$73 million on total revenues of US$7.6 billion.
This is up 52.1 percent and 26.7 percent on 2013.
In total, the Abu Dhabi-based carrier handled a total of 14.8 million passengers last year – a rise of 22.3 percent year-on-year.
This is 147 times more than the number of people it takes to fill the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
New routes contribute to the airline’s profits.
Revenue Passenger Kilometres was also up by 23.6 percent, with the airline making $68.6 billion on pax alone.
By the end of the year, the average network-wide seat load factor was 79.2 percent, compared to 78.0 percent in 2013.
Etihad attributed the sharp increase in passengers and profits to additional capacity and its growing network.
This includes a second daily flight to Melbourne, the airline’s first services to Dallas, plus a new direct route to Vienna.
“We have continued to grow, not just in size, reputation and performance, but also in maturity, evolving from an airline to a diverse global aviation and tourism group.”
James Hogan, Etihad Airways President and Chief Executive Officer
“This has been achieved through a unique strategy that combines industry-leading organic growth with wide-ranging partnerships and minority equity investments in other airlines around the world.”
Another key driver of Etihad Airways’ growth in 2014 was its partnership strategy, based on wide-ranging codeshares and its unique approach of minority equity investments in strategically important airlines.
Last year, the airline launched new flights to the US.
This strategy delivered revenues of US$ 1.1 billion in 2014, an increase of 37.7 percent (US$ 820 million), and represented 24 percent of Etihad Airways’ total passenger revenues.
In addition, Etihad Airways Partners was unveiled last year, using a partnership cooperation model to offer passengers more choice through improved networks and schedules, plus enhanced frequent flyer benefits.
The partnership also builds greater synergies for participating airlines, which currently include airberlin, Air Serbia, Air Seychelles, Alitalia, Etihad Airways, Etihad Regional, Jet Airways and NIKI.
Image: Mauvries/Shutterstock
A further measure of Etihad Airways’ growth was the increased membership of the Etihad Guest loyalty program.
In 2014, membership numbers increased from 2.3 million to 2.9 million, up 26.1 percent, representing an average increase of 50,000 new members each month.
Etihad Guest has entered its next phase of growth after becoming a separate legal entity in 2014.
This supports its development as a leading customer loyalty and marketing services organisation, and will improve member engagement and returns for the program partners.