LONDON – After years of financial difficulty, Etihad has reported record-breaking profits for the first six months of 2022.
The profits for the first six months have been recorded at $296 million, which is a vast improvement from the $392 million loss it made in 1H21.
| H1 2022 | H1 2021 | |
| Passenger revenue (US$ billion) | 1.25 | 0.32 |
| Cargo revenue (US$ billion) | 0.80 | 0.76 |
| Operating revenue (US$ billion) | 2.29 | 1.23 |
| EBITDA (US$ billion) | 0.69 | 0.06 |
| Core operating result (US$ billion) | 0.30 | (0.39) |
| Total passengers (million) | 4.02 | 0.98 |
| Available seat kilometres (billion) | 24.00 | 16.43 |
| Seat load factor (%) | 74.98% | 24.89% |
| Number of operating aircraft | 71 | 64 |
| Cargo tonnage (leg tonnes ‘000) | 295.02 | 365.48 |
The airline handled around 4.02 million passengers in H122, which was three million more than in H121, which was recorded at 980,000. The load factor has risen from 21.9% to 75%.
Tony Douglas, Group Chief Executive Officer, said: “Thanks to our transformation program, Etihad is emerging from the pandemic stronger than ever, with a world-class fleet, an unmatched customer proposition, and sustainability woven into every fiber of our business.
“As air travel came roaring back in 2022, Etihad was there to reconnect our customers with their loved ones and take them on their long-awaited vacations, carrying over 4 million passengers to and from our beautiful home of Abu Dhabi.
“Sustainability continued to be a priority area for Etihad as we entered our fuel-efficient A350-1000s into service and continued our industry-leading decarbonization efforts, leading to Etihad being recently named Environmental Airline of the Year.
“Etihad Guest delivered record results this year as we continued to drive member engagement and launched Conscious Choices, the first green loyalty program in the world to reward frequent flyers for making sustainable choices in the air and on the ground.
“Our results would not be possible without the hard work and commitment of the entire Etihad family, and our focus now is on continuing this momentum into the second half of the year.”
Revenues at the carrier have tripled in the first six months of this year compared to 1H21, with this being recorded at $1.25bn.
Adam Boukadida, Chief Financial Officer, said: “Our transformation program has made Etihad substantially more resilient and efficient, and we are extremely proud of our return to profitability in the first half of 2022.
“In the first half, we managed to further reduce our fixed overhead and finance costs by US$ 50 million compared to H1 2021, reduce the level of debt on our balance sheet, and improve our EBITDA by more than US$ 600 million.
“While ramping up our operations and recording a four-fold increase in passenger volumes, we kept a tight hold on our cost base. As a result, our operating costs only rose by 26% despite a 46% increase in deployed capacity.
“Our overall operating profit of US$ 296 million is testament to the strength of our business model at Etihad and the improvements we have made to our underlying financial performance over the years.”
It remains clear that Etihad has done a sterling job in recovering its financial detriment into a hefty profit, with this expected to rise as the carrier progresses into the second half of this year.
