Abu Dhabi: UAE’s national carrier Etihad Airways plans to make its stock market debut no sooner than 2025, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters, in potentially the first IPO of a major Gulf airline as the UAE's capital ramps up effort to become a global travel hub.
Etihad, owned by Abu Dhabi wealth fund ADQ, had considered listing this year, the people said. However, it wants to present investors with 2024 financial results that will show a strong performance, one of the people said. Geopolitical instability in the region has also weighed on timing, the second person said.
ADQ declined to comment. In response to the Reuters report, the airline told Gulf News, "Etihad does not comment on rumour or speculation."
Last month, the airline reported a 48 per cent increase in half-year after tax profit, with passenger numbers rising 38 per cent to 8.7 million. That followed full-year net profits in 2022 and 2023.
In previous interviews with Gulf News, Etihad officials have consistently refrained from confirming any plans for a potential IPO. CEO Antonoaldo Neves acknowledged that airlines are highly capital-intensive and could benefit from going public.
When the airline released its financial results for 2023, he remarked, “It’s not unusual for airlines to list on stock markets. I’m actually pleased to see this kind of speculation in the media because, five years ago, the talk was very different... there were rumors that Etihad might shut down. So, this speculation is actually quite flattering.”
That said, Neves said the team’s focus at the moment is to maximize returns for the shareholders. “In the end, IPO is not a destination. We are not here to IPO Etihad. The management is here to make sure we deliver the mandate of the shareholders which is to deliver extraordinary results. Also, the decision to IPO an airline belongs to the shareholders not the management,” he said.
Neves had said in March 2023, “If and when the shareholders start (IPO) process, we only know one month before. For that we have to file an intention to float, but there is no filing for intention to float today.”
The airline has aggressive growth plans, including expanding destinations to more than 125 airports by 2030 from over 70 today, and boosting its fleet to over 160 aircraft from around the 90 it has now.
