News
Etihad reports US$1.52 billion loss amid reports of B777X order cancellation
June 15th 2018
On Thursday, Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways reported a full-year 2017 net loss of US$1.52 billion. While a bad result, the numbers are an improvement on the 2016 loss of US$1.95 billion, which Etihad restated from the previously reported US$1.87 billion. Read More »
Presenting the results, “the national airline of the UAE” said it had reduced administrative and general expenses by 14% year-on-year and that unit costs were down 7.3% compared with a year earlier. Its fuel bill increased for the reported year and was US$337 million higher than the previous 12 months.
Revenue at the carrier grew from US$5.9 billion to US$6.1 billion and passengers carried increased marginally to 18.6 million for the year over 16.5 million in 2016. Fleet numbers were cut from 119 aircraft to 115 during the course of the year.
The airline has ordered more than 100 airliners, mostly wide bodies, from Airbus and Boeing. Citing airline sources, Reuters reported this week that the carrier hoped to cancel its order for 25 B777Xs even if the strategy change attracted severe penalties.
“The board, the new executive leadership team and all our employees worked extremely hard to navigate the challenges we faced. We made significant progress in driving improved performance and we are on track in 2018,” Etihad Aviation Group chairman, Mohammad Mubarak Al Mazroui, said.
Etihad Aviation Group CEO, Tony Douglas, who took over in January, said the recent actions taken to improve the airline’s performance were “the solid first steps” in positioning the carrier for long-term viability.
Be that as it may, the landscape is not looking good for Etihad. The airline has terminated services from Doha to San Francisco and Dallas and reduced frequencies to New York and Los Angeles.
The airline no longer offers its popular premium class chauffeur service, has eliminated pyjamas and spa treatments for passengers and made drastic cuts to on board and lounge catering.
