Etihad Airways revises growth target up to 38 million passengers by 2030

Abu Dhabi-based airline aims to expand 15% every year until the end of the decade, CEO says

Etihad Airways chief executive Antonoaldo Neves. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Etihad Airways is revising its growth targets upwards to carry 38 million passengers by 2030, from a previous goal of 33 million, as it seeks to bring more point-to-point traffic to the UAE capital.

The Abu Dhabi-based airline aims to expand 15 per cent every year until the end of the decade as it carries more passengers, adds 20 planes annually and reaps benefits from joint venture partnerships with Ethiopian Airlines and China Eastern, Antonoaldo Neves, Etihad's chief executive, told The National.

The revised growth plans prompted the airline to place an order in May for 28 Boeing wide-body aircraft, a mix of 787s and 777Xs, during US President Donald Trump's visit to Abu Dhabi.

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"The plan that we have today is for 38 million passengers...the Boeing order that we put is to get to that objective," Mr Neves said.

"The strategy to bring more people into Abu Dhabi, to improve customer service and to provide people with more choice on the network is working very well. We're confident," he said, citing the 7.5 per cent surge in Abu Dhabi's population to more than four million last year.

Etihad had outlined plans for its so-called Journey 2030, a seven-year growth agenda announced in November 2023 when it marked its 20th anniversary. The strategy calls for doubling its fleet to 170 planes and tripling the number of passengers it carries annually to 33 million as it expands its global route network. In 2024, the airline carried 18.5 million passengers.

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Sustainable growth

This year, Etihad will take delivery of 22 planes and has announced a flurry of new destinations. It launched inaugural flights to four new destinations this year – Prague, Warsaw, Sochi and Atlanta – and is set to add another 13 routes before the year closes. On Tuesday, it announced an additional seven new destinations with a focus on the Caucasus and Central Asia.

Asked if the rapid rate of network expansion was sustainable, Mr Neves said he was "confident" that this level of growth is manageable.

"There's not a single week that I don't think about growth and safety and financial profitability," the airline boss said. "These are the three things that are always on my mind."

Etihad Airways is "bigger and stronger" than ever before, hitting this week the mark of 20 million passengers flown in a 12-month period for the first time in its history, he added.

The airline chief is "happy" with the company's second-quarter financial results, which are yet to be announced, while prospects for the second half of the year "are good".

This comes despite airspace closures around the Middle East because of the geopolitical conflict that have created operational challenges for airlines serving the region.

"We've been able to manage the geopolitical situation that we had very well, so we're confident in terms of the results for this year," Mr Neves said.

The airline's profit margins and customer service levels are improving, while its safety standards are at an "all-time high," he said.

"We're going to keep up the growth that we have for the next five years...it's something that we can swallow and it gets easier as we grow," he said. "We've been over-delivering on the growth [targets] every single year."

Etihad Airways, for example, had previously set a target of 18 million passengers by 2027, which it has reached at the end of 2024, he said.

While the airline has announced a flurry of new routes, it is using about two-thirds of its additional capacity to increase the number of flights on existing routes, he said.

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Etihad Airways on Tuesday said it is introducing flights to Almaty, Baku, Bucharest, Madinah, Tbilisi, Tashkent and Yerevan.

The announcement came a day after low-cost carrier Wizz Air said it will exit its operations in Abu Dhabi, citing several operational challenges. Routes it was serving included Almaty, Baku, Bucharest, Tashkent, Madinah and Yerevan.