Summary
- Etihad Airways saw a 49% passenger growth last month, showing confidence in travel growth and the return of tourism within the UAE.
- The carrier welcomed 3 latest Boeing 787 Dreamliners in February and announced network expansions to latest destinations like Antalya and Jaipur.
- With a fleet expansion and increased load factor, Etihad Airways is heading in the right direction towards full recovery post-COVID, signaling positive growth ahead.
Etihad Airways experienced an enormous 49% passenger growth last month in comparison with February 2023. Along with experiencing significant growth, the carrier announced network expansions and welcomed three latest Boeing 787 Dreamliners.
3 Is The Lucky Number: Etihad Airways Received 3 Recent Boeing 787s This Week
The Gulf carrier now has 100 aircraft.
Strong February
On March 15, Etihad Airways, considered one of the flag carriers of the United Arab Emirates, published its preliminary traffic statistics for February 2024. The Abu Dhabi-based carrier saw an 89% load think about February 2024, up by 1% in comparison with last 12 months’s 88% load factor. The COVID-19 pandemic heavily impacted the airline; it needed to take drastic measures to remain afloat, akin to retiring its fleet of Airbus A330s. It, due to this fact, is a superb indicator of sustained demand for the carrier and shows confidence in travel and the return of solid tourism within the UAE.
Fun Fact: Did you understand Etihad means “the union” in Arabic? The name was chosen to symbolize the union of the Emirates.
February ’23 |
February ’24 |
Full 12 months 2023 |
Full 12 months 2024 |
|
Passengers |
1 million |
1.4 million |
2.0 million |
2,9 million |
Load Factor |
88% |
89% |
88% |
87% |
Fleet size |
74 |
89 |
74 |
89 |
Etihad’s CEO, Antonoaldo Neves, said this in regards to the February report.
In February 2024, we saw a 46% year-on-year growth in customer numbers as we continued our growth strategy. Our year-to-date (YTD) passenger figures at 2.9 million are 40% higher than at year-to-date February 2023.
“February was a busy month; we strengthened our fleet, welcoming three latest 787-9s, a move aligned with our network expansion strategy of adding latest destinations and expanding frequencies into key markets.
We also announced two latest routes that can begin this 12 months: Antalya, Turkey, and Jaipur, India, the latter representing our eleventh non-stop connection between Abu Dhabi and the Indian Subcontinent.
A period of expansion for the Gulf carrier
For the reason that end of the Covid pandemic, the UAE’s national carrier has seen positive fleet development. In 2022, Etihad Airways introduced a brand-new widebody to their fleet, the Airbus A350-1000. The airline has a fleet of 5 of the sort, they usually fly to destinations akin to London, Paris, Recent York, and Chicago.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Easy Flying
More recently, in January 2024, the airline saw day by day Airbus A380 flights to the British capital, London, and the superjumbo may even return to super-long-haul services to Recent York’s John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to the carrier’s Abu Dhabi hub. Today, their fleet comprises 89 aircraft with a healthy mixture of long-haul widebody aircraft just like the 787-10, 777, and the superjumbo. It also has a solid short-haul narrowbody fleet consisting of A320 family aircraft mainly used on flights to the GCC and Indian sub-continent.
Etihad’s Airbus A350 Makes Debut With All Recent Business Class
After greater than two years parked up, the A350-1000 has finally entered revenue service for Etihad today.
Overall, Etihad Airways remains to be on the road to recovery. Still, the continued growth of their load factor, the return demand for travel to the UAE, and the fleet expansion to reply to the demand highlight that the airline is progressing towards full recovery. We expect the subsequent few years to see continued progress, and hopefully, we are going to see Etihad get better entirely shortly.
Have you ever flown on Etihad recently? How was your experience? Please tell us within the comments below.