Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, delivered solid operational
performance in 2015 by achieving continued growth in passenger and cargo volumes.
The airline carried 17.4 million passengers last year, a significant increase of 17 per cent over
2014 levels, and operated 97,400 flights which covered 467 million kilometres. The growth in
passenger demand continued to surpass the airline’s capacity increase, underscoring the
strength of its long-term growth strategy.
In total, Etihad Airways carried more than 75 per cent of the total passengers who travelled to
and from Abu Dhabi International Airport in 2015. With the addition of the airline’s equity
partners that operate flights into the UAE capital, the combined total rises to 84 per cent of
passenger traffic at Abu Dhabi International Airport.
James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “In 2015, we were
able to bring new competitive choice to millions of travellers, through our award-winning
services and through the growing networks of our equity partners. No airline group is doing
more to stimulate new competition in the aviation industry.”
Etihad Airways introduced six additional destinations to its global route network in 2015, with
new flights to Kolkata, Madrid, Edinburgh, Entebbe, Hong Kong, and Dar es Salaam, and a new
direct service to Brisbane.
Last year also saw Etihad Airways’ fleet boosted with the deployment of the Boeing 787-9
Dreamliner, which entered commercial service on routes to Washington DC, Zurich, Singapore
and Brisbane. The Airbus A380 network was expanded with a second service to London
Heathrow and new flights to Sydney and New York.
