Etihad passenger and cargo traffic record big growth

Etihad Airways carried a record 8.29 million passengers in 2011, a 17 per cent increase over the previous year, the carrier said yesterday in a statement. Meanwhile, the airline's cargo division, Etihad Crystal Cargo, enjoyed similar growth, carrying a record 310,000 tonnes of cargo last year, 18 per cent more than in 2010. However, the airline is set to grow in 2012 due to its increasing presence in the US market, according to Saj Ahmad, Chief Analyst at StrategicAero Research. "For the coming year, it's likely Etihad will start to increase its presence in both North and South America as these two continents have not yet seen any saturation in traffic coming from or going to the Middle East. And in both cases, services between the Americas and the GCC is limited," he told Gulf News, adding that this will be a "core focus point" for Etihad throughout 2012. Expansion Commenting on the airline's 2011 performance, Ahmad said: "A 17 per cent rise year on year in passenger traffic has ensured that Etihad Airways' expansion is both in tune with the continued growth of intra-GCC travel numbers and the carrier's expanding global footprint, recently augmented with the deep investment made in Air Berlin." The carrier recently made news by raising its stake in Air Berlin to 29.21 per cent, becoming the loss-making German carrier's largest single shareholder. The deal increased Etihad's total number of destinations to 269. Etihad said its jump in passenger numbers represented an "extra 1.197 million passengers" on the carrier's global network covering 82 passenger and cargo destinations. "This result, achieved while much of the world was still very much in the economic doldrums and oil prices remained high, is testament to our emergence as a formidable force in the international aviation arena," James Hogan, Etihad Airways President and Chief Executive Officer, said in a statement. He added that the airline launched eight new routes to its network in 2011, including Bengaluru, Maldives, Seychelles, Chengdu, Duesseldorf, Tripoli, Shanghai and Nairobi, with Bangkok emerging as its busiest route with the airline carrying more than 500,000 passengers to the Thai capital during the year. In cargo, however, the strongest growth, according to Hogan, was seen out of Europe as exports from markets such as Germany and Italy held firm during a challenging second half of the year.