UAE. Etihad Airways carried 14 million passengers in 2023, a leap of +40% year-on-year. The Abu Dhabi-based airline added 15 destinations, including Lisbon, Copenhagen, Kolkata and Osaka, and grew its operating fleet by 14 aircraft in the year.
The performance is encouraging news for business at the newly inaugurated, state-of-the-art Abu Dhabi Zayed International Airport.
The financial performance was also robust, with revenues rising by +11% to US$5.5 billion and net profit leaping more than five times year-on-year to US$143 million.
The airline company said it also saw an impressive rise in positive customer sentiment across 2023, buoyed by the opening of its new home, Zayed International Airport.
The airline also strengthened its balance sheet by reducing net leverage to 2.5x net debt to EBITDA, from 5.0x in 2022, off the back of strong cash-flow generation and controlled capex, supported by improving aircraft utilisation and reactivating previously parked aircraft.
Etihad’s strong performance in 2023 follows a successful reorganisation of its business, sharpening its focus on the core airline offering by divesting from ancillary support services and businesses; restructuring the fleet to focus on the most efficient and advanced aircraft; streamlining and rationalising its destination network; and increasing focus on productivity and cost savings.
Notes: (1) Excluding COVID-related grant.
(2) Etihad announced or began operations to 15 new destinations in 2023: Boston, Lisbon, Malaga, Nice, Dusseldorf, Copenhagen, Mykonos, Santorini, St Petersburg, Nairobi, Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram, Kolkata, Bali and Osaka. Destinations not accounted for in table include seasonal routes not operating in December 2023, and destinations announced to be launched in 2024. Four destinations operated in December 2022 didn’t operate in December 2023.
