Airline News
Etihad raises $700 million and Gulf Air reports better figures
September 25th 2015
Gulf Air has reported an annual loss of $166 million for FY14, an improvement on 2013’s $247 million loss and much improved from 2011’s $559 million losses. Headquartered in Muharraq, adjacent to Bahrain International Airport, the carrier has described the latest, recently confirmed figures as its “best financial results since 2004”. Read More » As a state-owned carrier, Gulf Air does not publish detailed financial or other performance figures, but said it had recorded a 15.4% year-on-year rise in passengers.
The airline’s chairman and deputy prime minister, Sheikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, said Gulf Air’s 2014 performance “reflects a steady and continued improvement in its financial and operational business.” Acting chief executive, Maher Salman Al Musallam, said management was making strategic decisions “not only positive in the short term, but that form part of a greater long-term strategy towards transforming the airline across many fronts".
The transformation program started in 2013 as Gulf Air moved away from marketing itself as a transit carrier to become a largely regional carrier, focusing on higher-value point-to-point traffic. It retains long-haul routes to London, Paris, Frankfurt, Manila and Bangkok and recently held talks with Airbus on a major fleet renewal program. It is also working towards what it described as a strategic airline alliance. “Gulf Air met Airbus and discussed the airline’s future narrow – and wide-body fleet requirements – up to fifty aircraft,” Bahrain's Minister of Information Affairs, Isa Al Hammadi, told Gulf News. “Discussions will be finalised by the end of the year and an announcement will be made during the Bahrain International Airshow (January 2016).”It has 16 A320neos, 16 B787-8s and ten CS100s on order, with deliveries of all three types scheduled to begin from 2018.
Across the Gulf, in Abu Dhabi, Etihad Airways and its equity partners have raised an additional $200 million, following a surge in demand from international financial institutions, bringing the total funds raised in the “collective financing agreement, to $700 million. Etihad said the funds would be split across seven businesses and used for a mixture of capital expenditures and investment in fleet and for refinancing, depending on each airline’s individual needs. Etihad Airways, Etihad Airport Services, airberlin and Alitalia will receive 20% each, with 16% to Jet Airways and the remainder going to Air Serbia and Air Seychelles.
Etihad is expecting this Saturday, September 26, to be the busiest day of the year as the Eid al-Adha holiday comes to an end.
