First quarter passenger traffic touches 1m mark

Dubai: Etihad Airways for the first time broke the one million mark in terms of passengers carried in the first quarter of 2007, resulting in record revenue of Dh712 million.

The results signal an increase of 176 per cent over Etihad Airway's first quarter of 2006, when it carried 373,000 passengers.

"Etihad's substantial revenue increase reflects the rapid expansion of the airline, and the heavy investment it has made in its fleet since starting operations," noted David Kaminski-Morrow, editor of Air Transport International in London.

The Abu Dhabi airline also said it grew its "available seat kilometres," a common metric used by the aviation industry, by 130 per cent in the past 12 months following the introduction of 15 new aircraft.

Own break-even point

Although new CEO James Hogan has said the airline will take another three years before it begins operating in the black, the first quarter results show it has already improved its seat load factor to a near-break even point from a day-to-day operational standpoint.

The airline's seat factor increased from 54.5 per cent in the first three months of 2006 to 68.3 per cent for the same period this year, Etihad said in a release.

Experts note that each route has its own break-even point.

For a transatlantic long-haul flight on a wide-bodied aircraft, airlines generally need flights to be at least 66 per cent full in order to be profitable.

"The first quarter of 2007 is good, the new routes are doing well, Europe is doing very well," Hogan told Gulf News on Sunday.

"But business is like Australian Rules Football - you've got four quarters. You do one quarter you've got three to go," noted the former player.

New fleet: Seat factor increases from 54.5% to 68.3%