Regional Round-Up
Hogan lists groundbreaking acquisition benefits
September 1st 2013
Etihad Airways CEO, James Hogan, said at the recent Australia Pacific Aviation Summit his investments in airberlin, Air Seychelles, Jet Airways and Air Serbia will allow these airlines, as well as Etihad, to use the same cabin configuration once the fleets are co-ordinated. Read More »
It will also allow interchanges of aircraft between the carriers depending on capacity changes among the airline partners. Hogan plans to introduce cross airline purchasing systems to reduce costs.
“For example, we will start with the cheapest price for a glass and go down from there,” he said. Hogan predicted Etihad would be a formidable competitor for the Qantas/Emirates partnership.
“We will fly A380s to Sydney and Melbourne once they start arriving with us in 2014 and we estimate a bigger market for Etihad than for Qantas/Emirates. We will continue to record double digit growth,” he said.
The Abu Dhabi-based carrier eschews alliances and fosters bilateral relationships. Said Hogan: “Willie Walsh, [who runs IAG and was the boss of British Airways] said that alliances are a poor substitute for consolidation. I agree. So at Etihad we are not aiming to be the biggest, but to be the best in class.”
The carrier operates 46 code-shares and has 28 departures a week from Australia. Perth-Abu Dhabi will be launched next year.
In India, the 24% investment in Jet Airways will give Etihad access to 26 domestic cities in a country.
