Etihad celebrates nine years of service

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, is nine years old.

At a ceremony to mark the occasion at its Abu Dhabi headquarters yesterday morning, the airline’s chief commercial officer Peter Baumgartner was joined by hundreds of staff as he cut the giant birthday cake.

Baumgartner said: “Etihad Airways has achieved significant growth since it took to the skies nine years ago.

“We look forward to many more years of safe operations, inspirational service and sustainable profitability.”

In its nine years of operation, Etihad Airways has built a global network of 86 passenger and cargo destinations across the Middle East, Africa, Australia, Europe, the Americas and Asia.

In total, the airline offers 327 global destinations with its 41 codeshare airline partners, including the four airlines in which it holds equity investments: airberlin, Air Seychelles, Virgin Australia and Aer Lingus.

Etihad Airways’ chief commercial officer, Peter Baumgartner, and the airline’s chief people and performance officer, Ray Gammell, cut the celebratory cake surrounded by Etihad Airways staff.

Analyst Saj Ahmad said: "Etihad has very quickly become not just one of the top tier fastest growing airlines, its growth has planted Abu Dhabi on the map like never before. Where some thought it would not survive due its neighbour down the road in Dubai, both Etihad and Emirates have expanded with relative ease and harmony, proving critics wrong and demonstrating that the wider GCC market is big enough to both pull in and retain traffic flows from across the globe.

"The slew of partnerships Etihad has nurtured, alongside its equity stakes in a number of airlines highlights the carriers long term future objectives.

"Etihad has grown from strength to strength in the last nine years and we can only imagine just how much more stronger it will become when it inducts more 777-300ERs and the world's largest fleet of 787-9s.

"It's a stunning achievement and one that has been matched with their profit goal seen last year - there will no doubt be many such repeat performances in the next decade."