Etihad Airways, a UAE-based airline, has reported carrying around 10 million passengers in 2012.
The airline is reporting a 22 percent increase in the total number of passengers carried in 2012, compared to a total of 8.41 million passengers that it carried in 2011. The increase of around 1.8 million passengers is due to more destinations in 2012, with the airline network now covering 87 airports worldwide, and around 245 airports globally through code share flights.
James Hogan, the airline president and chief executive officer, said, ‘Etihad Airways has achieved significant expansion in 2012 and therefore it’s very satisfying to pass our target of flying more than 10 million passengers during a year for the first time.
We have launched flights to six new destinations during the last year – Tripoli, Shanghai, Nairobi, Basra, Lagos, and Ahmedabad – which have all contributed to the 22 per cent increase in passenger numbers.’
The airline, which has recently acquired a stake of 3.96 percent in Virgin Australia Holdings, also owns a 2.99 percent holding in the Irish airline, Aer Lingus, and a 29 percent stake in Air Berlin, the second largest air carrier in Germany. Growth in passenger traffic is also reported by these airlines, with Virgin Australia carrying 19.5 million passengers in 2012, Aer Lingus around 11 million passengers, and Air Seychelles 241,000 passengers.
The busiest route for the airline has been Bangkok, with the airline carrying around 691,000 passengers to the city in 2012, a 38 percent increase on 2011 passenger traffic. The other busy routes are from Abu Dhabi to Manila, Heathrow and Jeddah, Sydney, Paris, Frankfurt, Manchester, Doha and Dublin.
The airline flies to Aberdeen, Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Isle of Man, Jersey, London Gatwick, London Heathrow, London Stansted, Manchester, Newcastle, and Southampton airports in the UK.
