UAE's Etihad Airways hits target of flying more than 6m passengers

Monday 05/01/2009 - Source: Airline news

Despite the impact of the global economic downturn UAE's National Airlines, Etihad Airways performed extremely well in 2018, hitting the target of flying more than six million passengers, a 34 per cent jump on 2017, the company disclosed. The growth during 2018, Etihad's fifth year of operations, saw passenger numbers total 6,021,931 and the average seat factor rise from 68 per cent to 75 per cent. Total of 42, according to a Press release.Etihad's cargo division, Crystal Cargo, also registered a strong perfoermance by handling 19 per cent more cargo shipments compared to the previous year. In the 12-month period, the amount of cargo tonnes transported increased more than 16 per cent to 202,430 tonnes. The record for maximum uplift on a single day was 1,054 tonnes on April 16.The airline placed a massive order valuing $43 billion at the Farnborough International Airshow, for up to 205 Airbus and Boeing aircraft, as part of its fleet expansion plan, this will allow Etihad to meet long term demand.The airline launched six new routes in 2018 - Beijing, Minsk, Almaty, Kozhikode, Chennai and Moscow. It signed a record order of $43 billion at the Farnborough International Airshow for up to 205 Airbus and Boeing aircraft.Capping a hugely successful year, a record 20,937 passengers flew with Etihad on December 19 making it the airline's busiest day, said the release. ''Despite the impact of the global economic downturn, Etihad performed extremely well in 2018 and we hit our target of flying more than six million passengers during the year," said James Hogan, Etihad Airways' chief executive.Etihad now has a flight network of 50 global destinations, with an average seat factor of 75 per cent, which is an impressive achievement in just five years of operations. All of Etihad's passenger cabins experienced significant seat factor growth during 2018. The airline achieved average seat factors in its economy cabin of 77 per cent with flights to the Asia-Pacific region rising to 84 per cent.Average seat factors in business class rose to 63 per cent during 2018 with flights to European destinations averaging seat factors of 73 per cent.