Etihad Airways Records Profit For Second Year Running

“Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, was profitable again in 2012,” the airline’s president and chief executive, James Hogan, announced during his keynote address at the Global Airfinance Conference in Dublin, Ireland, held 22-24 January.

The 2012 result follows Etihad Airways’ maiden profit in 2011of $14 million. More details of the airline’s financial results are expected to be released next month.

Mr. Hogan spoke of the airline’s strong financial portfolio with more than $6.5 billion in funding from more than 50 financial institutions across the world and gave details of how major financial market risks are managed. These include fuel, foreign currencies, interest rates and emissions.

Etihad Airways funding is derived from more than 50 lenders and lessors from local, regional and global sources.

Etihad Airways President and CEO James Hogan.

Mr. Hogan added that Etihad Airways has identified a new route to global expansion, allowing it to accelerate even further its development as an airline and as a business.

This includes organic fleet and network growth, wide-ranging codeshares, and strategic equity partnerships.

Etihad Airways carried more than 215,000 passengers between Abu Dhabi and Dublin in 2012, with the route once again in the airline’s top 10 most popular.

The 15th Annual Global Airfinance Conference included delegates from the world’s largest airlines, leasing companies, commercial banks, export credit agencies, private equity firms, investment banks, manufacturers, law firms and other aircraft financing organizations.