Etihad surpasses target of 10m passengers

Etihad Airways has surpassed its target of carrying 10 million passengers in 2012 and is set to achieve a 22 percent increase on the total of 8.41 million passengers for 2011.
The increase in passenger numbers — up to a total of 10.29 million — represents an extra 1.88 million passengers traveling on the carrier’s global network that now covers 87 of its own passenger and cargo destinations, and 245 codeshare destinations.
The passenger growth for Etihad Airways is mirrored by its equity partners.
By the end of 2012, airberlin is expected to have carried 33.4 million passengers, Virgin Australia 19.5 million passengers, Aer Lingus nearly 11 million passengers, and Air Seychelles 241,000 passengers.
Etihad Airways and its equity partners will have collectively carried more than 74 million passengers in 2012, with cooperation between the five airlines greatly contributing to passenger growth.
An example of the success of this cooperation is the 300,000 passengers airberlin and Etihad Airways have delivered onto each other’s networks during the last 12 months.
James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ president and CEO, said: “Etihad Airways has achieved significant expansion in 2012 and therefore it’s very satisfying to pass our target of flying more than 10 million passengers during a year for the first time.”
Based on year to date figures, Etihad Airways will have carried 73 percent of all passengers at Abu Dhabi airport, a 5.3 percent increase on 2011’s figure of 67.7 percent.
With the addition of Etihad Airways’ equity partners that operate flights into Abu Dhabi, the combined passenger number total for 2012 rises to 76 percent.
Top 10 passenger routes in 2012:
Bangkok, Manila, London Heathrow, Jeddah, Sydney, Paris, Frankfurt, Manchester, Doha and Dublin