Etihad triples profits to $42 million

Etihad Airways said profit last year tripled as partnerships let the Middle East's third-largest carrier curtail costs and bolster revenue.

Profit advanced to $42 million (€30.8 million), while sales gained 17 per cent to $4.8 billion, the Abu Dhabi-based network carrier said in a statement today.

Passenger numbers reached 10.3 million as traffic growth outpaced capacity last year, it said.

Etihad has been growing its network through a mixture of code-share alliances and taking minority stakes in Air Berlin, Virgin Australia, and Aer Lingus and Air Seychelles.

Partner airlines contributed 19 per cent of passenger revenue, the airline said.

"By investing in other airlines we have been able to achieve scale and collectively reduce our unit cost," chief executive officer James Hogan said.

Non-fuel costs fell 5 per cent in the last year and the airline locked in 80 per cent of fuel costs at prior-year prices.

Mr Hogan said Etihad in the next two weeks expects to complete the due diligence process to determine whether to take an equity stake in India's Jet Airways (India).

Etihad's board still has to decide whether to take the decision to invest in Jet which Hogan called "a great airline" with a strong network

Bloomberg