UAE - Etihad trims loses on robust passenger recovery, cargo revenues

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) This is the sixth consecutive loss for the Abu Dhabi carrier, with accumulated losses of around $7.8 billion since 2016. Etihad started its turnaround drive four years ago The UAE national carrier reduced its net losses to $476 million for 2021 from $ 1.7 billion in 2020. This represents a 72 per cent improvement compared to 2020 and a 41 per cent improvement against pre-pandemic results in 2019 ($802 million). — Supplied photo by Issac John

Published: Tue 1 Mar 2022, 5:28 PM

Etihad Airways significantly trimmed its losses for 2021 on a strong recovery in passenger operations, higher cargo revenues, and prudent cost control, the company said on Tuesday.

The UAE national carrier reduced its net losses to $476 million for 2021 from $ 1.7 billion in 2020. This represents a 72 per cent improvement compared to 2020 and a 41 per cent improvement against pre-pandemic results in 2019 ($802 million).

This is the sixth consecutive loss for the Abu Dhabi carrier, with accumulated losses of around $7.8 billion since 2016. Etihad started its turnaround drive four years ago.

'In another year of global uncertainty, Etihad Airways has continued to move forward, strengthen its business, and build on its world-class travel proposition. As always, this has been thanks to our remarkable people who have gone above and beyond to make the most of every opportunity. Despite the slowdown caused by Omicron, we are confident that the spring and summer season will continue to see a resurgence in travel as more people return to the skies,” said Tony Douglas, group chief executive officer.

Adam Boukadida, chief financial officer of the airline, said record cargo operations have provided much-needed uplift, helping to more than double monthly operating revenue between January and December.

In 2021, the airline carried 3.5 million passengers in 2021, with an average seat load factor of 39.6 per cent. Passenger loads doubled in the second half of the year, reaching 70.1 per cent in December as travel demand peaked during the winter holiday period. Etihad recorded a particularly strong surge in passenger volumes in Q4 following the September relaxation of mandatory quarantine periods in Abu Dhabi.

Cargo operations outperformed expectations with a 27 per cent increase year-on-year in freight carried in 2021, boosted by pharmaceutical shipments during the pandemic, it said.

Cargo revenues rose 49 per cent to $1.73 billion, the highest in the airline's history.

The Abu Dhabi head-quartered airline focused on cost control, cutting operating costs by another $110 million, despite rising fuel costs driven by higher oil prices.

Network capacity came in at 37.21 billion available seat kilometers for the year, with the airline connecting Abu Dhabi to 71 passenger and cargo destinations across 47 countries. The airline launched or restarted operations to 13 destinations in 2021, most notably introducing scheduled services to Tel Aviv following the normalisation of relations between the UAE and Israel.

The airline posted passenger revenues of $1.07 billion in 2021, down by 14 per cent year-on-year. While ongoing travel restrictions and new variants of the virus dampened demand, the airline saw passenger revenues bouncing back in the last quarter of the year, recovering to 50 per cent of 2019 levels in December.

Cargo operations meanwhile continued to outperform expectations, with a 27 per cent year-on-year increase in freight carried in 2021 (729,200 tonnes) coupled with a rise in cargo revenues of 49 per cent to $1.73 billion, the highest figure in the history of the airline.

—

MENAFN01032022000049011007ID1103784092