UAE's Etihad Airways lost nearly $900m in 2019

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways said yesterday it had incurred $870 million in losses in 2019, local media reported.

“2019 has witnessed a decline in the Etihad Airways’ annual losses, compared to $1.28 billion of losses in 2018 and $1.52 billion in 2017,” the company said in statement. It added that the decline in losses was driven by an increase in the carrier’s seat occupancy rate, which reached 78.7 per cent last year.

“Etihad Airways had hosted and transferred a total of 17.5 million passengers in 2019,” the statement added.

Etihad, owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, noted that the company’s total revenue had decreased by 4.4 per cent in 2019, hitting a total of $5.6 billion, down from $5.85 billion the year before.

READ: Concerned by coronavirus outbreak, UAE advises against travel abroad 

Etihad Aviation Group CEO, Tony Douglas, described his company’s financial results as “positive”, hailing the company’s adoption of “innovative ways and solutions in operations.”

Reuters said on Tuesday that the state-owned company had asked its cabin crew staff to “take paid leave next month due to the rapidly spreading coronavirus that has led to a drop in travel demand.”

“Global restrictions on travel and retiming of events have caused many passengers to change their travel arrangements, and the airline is among many realigning resources to accommodate these changes,” an Etihad spokeswoman said.

The state-owned carrier was recently reported to have cut jobs, routes and billions of dollars in aircraft orders as it downsized its operations.