Etihad 'will stand on its feet by 2010'

Dubai: Etihad Airways is embarking on a new phase in which it will focus less on adding routes and instead develop existing routes to consolidate its network, its chief executive said.

The airline's shareholder, the Abu Dhabi Government, in February approved a new direction under the leadership of its new CEO, James Hogan, who was hired last October.

"The next three years is really about getting the glue, getting the right inventory systems in place, the right yield management, the right processes that manage the quality of revenue," Hogan told Gulf News on Sunday.

The plans will guide the airline through a three-year financial outlook and a ten-year network plan, detailing the Abu Dhabi carrier's future fleet size, frequencies and destinations.

After three years of being supported by the Abu Dhabi government since its launch in late 2003, Etihad is targeting 2010 when it will begin turning a profit, Hogan said.

"What's important to the shareholders is that by 2010, Etihad can stand on its own two feet," he said.

Right seat factor

"The name of the game isn't to take planes for the sake of planes - the name of the game is to get the efficiency, to get the right seat factor, the right yield, the right product, and then in three year's time take the next step."

He added, "After this year, you're going to see us locking in what we have and make it work get the maturity, work on the brand, get the service proposition, and grow the business. And at the end of three years, we can go at it again."

In the next three to five years, Hogan envisions Etihad as a mid-sized airline with 35 to 40 aircraft.

After placing the largest start-up order ever worth $8 billion for new aircraft in 2004, Etihad has grown its fleet and network rapidly, currently operating 25 planes flying to 38 destinations across Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North America.

Going forward, Hogan said a major focus would be on increasing its important sectors to double daily status, such as New York, New Delhi, Mumbai and Sydney, adding to the existing twice-daily status of its Abu Dhabi to London route.

"In North America, for example - and we wouldn't be flying there in the next three years - we would be looking at other gateway cities such as Chicago and Washington D.C., but first the key is to get maturity on the New York route first and interline with other airlines."

This year, Etihad also hopes to grow its seat factor from a current network-wide average of 68 per cent up to 75 per cent by the end of the year, mainly by better connectivity with Etihad forwarding flights and those from other airlines through interline agreements.