Etihad targets 25 million passengers

Abu Dhabi: Etihad Airways has set its sights on flying 25 million passengers a year by 2020, according to the Abu Dhabi-based airline's chief executive.

Chief Executive Officer James Hogan announced the ambitious targets while addressing the American media in New York.

In addition to the flight network growth, Etihad's workforce could also grow to 27,000 people by 2020, from its current 6,600, with most of the jobs based in Abu Dhabi.

Hogan said: "Our projections to 2020 reflect that order and the scale of our ambitions, closely aligned to the growth of Abu Dhabi as an economic and tourism powerhouse."

Etihad recorded more than 1.6 million passengers from June to August this year.

The record performance during the summer months was underlined further on August 1 when 20,721 passengers flew with Etihad, making it the airline's busiest day.

The summer also saw Etihad flights operate at an average of 83 per cent full, an increase of 46 per cent on the same period in 2007.

Etihad has now flown more than four million passengers across its network of 48 destinations in 2008 and is on track to achieve its target of carrying six million passengers by the end of the year.