UAE national airline Etihad records $1.8bn loss in 2018

Etihad Airways is facing the biggest crisis in its history after the Emirati company reported losses for the third consecutive year.

The Abu Dhabi based company said in a statement that total revenues fell by 2.4 per cent in 2018 to reach $5.86 billion, down from $6 billion in 2017.

It added that the number of passengers decreased from 18.6 million in 2017 to 17.8 million in 2018.

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In 2018, the company suspended flights to the Iranian capital Tehran, Jaipur in India, Entebbe in Uganda, America’s Dallas and Fort Worth, the capital of Bangladesh Dhaka, Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and Scotland’s Edinburgh. It also suspended flights to and from Qatar after the UAE launched a blockade on its Gulf neighbour in June 2017.

The company also faces a €2 billion ($2.27 billion) compensation lawsuit filed by German carrier Air Berlin’s insolvency administrator. Air Berlin claims that Etihad did not fulfil its financial obligations when it withdrew its funding to the now defunct carrier. The Abu Dhabi-based airline was the main shareholder in Air Berlin, which declared insolvency in August 2017.