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Dubai: Etihad Airways has recorded a 40 per cent growth in passengers touching 2.8 million during the first half of 2008 up from two million during the same period last year, the company said in a statement on Tuesday
“The airline achieved average seat factors of 73 per cent across its network of 45 destinations between January 1 and June 30,” the statement said.
“Passenger loads in the economy cabin averaged 83 per cent, led by Bangkok, Sydney, Manila and Jakarta, which all enjoyed seat factors of more than 85 per cent.”
Etihad is expected to increase its fleet to 42 by the end of 2008 and will introduce non-stop flights to five new destinations.
James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ chief executive, said: “Etihad’s performance during the first six months of 2008 has been extremely strong against a well documented backdrop of higher fuel prices and economic slow-down in parts of Europe and the Americas.
“Despite these significant challenges faced by many airlines, Etihad is not seeing any signs of a decline in demand in any of our markets or any of our cabins. Indeed our forward bookings are currently well ahead of expectations and we anticipate another very busy summer.”
The airline saw increase in performance across all routes as well as in its cargo division, which carried more than 127,000 global shipments, up 22 per cent from last year.
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