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Etihad flies 4.4 million passengers in nine-month period
Etihad Airways continues to set new records in 2008 with its latest passenger figures for the first nine months showing a 35 per cent rise on the same period last year.
- Staff Report
- Published: 14:09 October 6, 2008
Abu Dhabi: Etihad Airways continues to set new records in 2008 with its latest passenger figures for the first nine months showing a 35 per cent rise on the same period last year.
The Abu Dhabi-based airline carried 4.4 million passengers across its current network of 48 destinations, compared to 3.3 million for the same period in 2007 between January 1 and September 30.
Seat factors in the same period averaged of 75 per cent, representing a year-on-year increase of seven percentage points.
Etihad's services to Asia and Australia turned in a particularly strong performance with overall seat factors averaging 82 per cent across the region.
Passenger loads in the economy cabin averaged 84 per cent, led by Manila (94 per cent), Jakarta (90 per cent), Sydney (87 per cent) and Bangkok (83 per cent).
Middle East routes, which performed well during the first nine months of the year, included Amman and Damascus and both achieved overall average seat factors of 78 per cent.
The Egyptian capital of Cairo remains the airline's most popular African route, which achieved an overall seat factor of 80 per cent.
Average seat factors in Etihad's business cabin rose seven percentage points to 63 per cent during the first nine months of 2008. The best performing business routes during the period were Toronto (85 per cent), New York (81 per cent) and London (79 per cent).
The nine-month performance was boosted by a record-breaking summer period, with more than 1.6 million passengers flying onboard the Abu Dhabi-based airline's flights during the three months of June, July and August.
A record 20,721 passengers flew with Etihad on Friday 1 August making it the airline's busiest day in its near five-year history.
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