Etihad Airways Soars to Record-Breaking First Half Profit

Etihad Airways has announced its financial and operating results for the first half of 2022, posting a record-breaking core operating profit of US$ 296 million (H1 2021: US$ 392 million loss).

This result was achieved despite fuel costs increasing by almost 60% in comparison to the same period last year.

Etihad carried 4.02 million passengers in H1 2022, over 3 million more than last year (H1 2021: 980,000), with an average load factor of 75%. Passenger loads increased consistently over the first six months, rising by 21.9% points as travel demand recovered.

The airline saw a strong boost in passenger volumes in February as Abu Dhabi further relaxed pandemic-related restrictions.  Network capacity came in at 24 billion ASKs for H1 2022, growing by 46% compared to last year (H1 2021: 16.4 billion), as the airline connected Abu Dhabi to 71 passenger and cargo destinations across 45 countries.

The first half of the year saw Etihad launch five summer services, including new seasonal routes to Heraklion on the island of Crete and the French city of Nice.

Financial and loyalty related highlights  

Etihad's passenger revenues tripled in the first six months of the year, climbing to US$ 1.25 billion (H1 2021: US$ 320 million) as more business and leisure travellers returned to the air. This was supported by more countries across Etihad's network relaxing their Covid-related travel restrictions.  

Cargo operations continued to deliver exceptional results with revenues of US$ 802 million in the first half of 2022, representing an increase of 6% on the same period last year.

Revenues remained strong despite the increase in passenger volumes limiting belly-hold capacity, leading to a 19% reduction in freight carried (295,020 tonnes).

As a result of a constant focus on cost containment, fixed overhead and finance costs decreased in H1 2022, falling by 9% (or US$ 29 million) and 13% (or US$ 22 million) respectively.

Etihad Guest, the airline’s loyalty programme, delivered a record of new member acquisitions in June 2022, increasing to 7.95 million members globally.

Flight redemptions increased 15% in H1 2022 compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019, with over 737,000 flights taken, and member engagement levels translated into record card spends across the programme’s portfolio of UAE banks, supported by a new partnership with Emirates NBD.