With the growth of operations, Etihad Airways is on the road to recovery

Etihad Airways announced its operational and financial results for the first half of 2021, showing that its business is gradually recovering, although the recovery rate of global air travel has been slower than expected.

The airline carried 1 million passengers in the first half of 2021, with an average load factor of 24.9%. This means that since Etihad Airways restarted its passenger business in July 2020, passenger traffic has increased by an average of 10% month-on-month.

In the first half of 2021, the network capacity reached 16.4 billion ASK, which has grown steadily since the beginning of the year. By the end of June 2021, the airline operates nearly 3,500 flights per month to 67 passenger and cargo destinations. By 2021, Etihad Airways has launched or restarted operations to 10 destinations, including the historic launch of scheduled flights to Tel Aviv in April 2021.

Due to the new variant of the coronavirus affecting the major tourist markets in the Indian subcontinent and Europe, passenger revenue was US$300 million, a 68% decrease from the US$1 billion in the same period last year. However, the decline in passenger revenue was offset by the strong performance of the freight business. In the first half of 2021, freight volume increased by 44% year-on-year (365,500 tons) and revenue increased by 56% year-on-year (US$800 million).

Group Chief Executive Tony Douglas (Tony Douglas) said: “Etihad Airways is making up for lost ground every day. Although the curveball of the Delta variant disrupted the recovery of global air travel, we continue to increase our operations, and things are much better today than at this time in 2020. Once the destination is added to the Abu Dhabi Green List or the UAE in the tourist corridor, we have seen bookings increase three to six times in some cases, indicating that the wave of demand is waiting to be released. We are ready to welcome more passengers on board and experience why Etihad is second to none in ensuring the health of passengers. “

Throughout the first half of 2021, Etihad Airways has always focused on cost control. With the support of reduced capacity and volume-related expenses, operating costs fell by 27% year-on-year, from US$1.9 billion to US$1.4 billion. Significant improvement, a decrease of 22% to US$300 million. At the same time, due to the continuous deleveraging of the balance sheet, financial costs were reduced by 22%. Therefore, the airline managed to restore its liquidity situation to pre-pandemic levels.

Overall, Etihad recorded a core operating loss of US$400 million in the first half of 2021 (half of the US$800 million loss in the first half of 2020), and EBITDA has changed from negative US$100 million in the same period in 2020 to positive1 One hundred million U.S. dollars.

Chief Financial Officer Adam Boukadida said“Although the recovery of market demand is slower than expected, our record cargo performance continues to boost business. At the same time, we continue to strengthen our fundamentals and put Etihad Airways in a better position. Maximize the value of passenger revenue when passenger traffic recovers. Our rock-solid credit rating has been consistent throughout the pandemic and was reiterated by Fitch as “A with stable prospects” again in April 2021. It clearly demonstrates the long-term financial viability of our business. Although the pandemic still poses a challenge, Etihad Airways is on its way to becoming a sustainable and profitable company.”

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* Due to travel restrictions, most of the Etihad Airways fleet will be grounded in the first half of 2020.