Etihad Cargo registered a decline in its cargo revenues last year as the wider air cargo market cooled following the Covid boom.
The Abu Dhabi-headquartered airline saw its cargo revenues in 2023 decline by 38% year on year to $914m following the "exceptional yield registered in 2022 due to Covid".
Meanwhile, cargo volumes for the year were flat on the previous year, slipping slightly to 371m tonne from 372m in 2022.
This was an above-market performance as the overall air cargo market declined by 1.9% last year according to IATA.
The solid cargo volume performance reflects the expansion of passenger operations - and therefore belly capacity - following the Covid pandemic.
Through 2023, the airline launched 15 new destinations, including Lisbon, Copenhagen, Kolkata and Osaka, and grew its operating fleet by 14 aircraft, to support ~30 per cent growth in Available Seat Kilometres (ASKs).
Earlier this year, the carrier reported record pharma volumes in 2023.
The airline saw its pharma volumes increase by 37% year on year in 2023 while fresh and perishable shipments were up 10%.
Etihad said the increases had come despite challenging market conditions and followed investment in its PharmaLife and FreshForward products.
The overall airline group saw revenues increase by 10.8% year on year to $5.5bn and net profit improved by 472% to $143m.
Mohammed Ali Al Shorafa, chairman of Etihad Aviation Group, said: “I am confident we will continue to build on this solid foundation as we grow our network, enhance our offering and connect even more people with Abu Dhabi as we support and promote the Emirate’s tourism ambitions, delivering our vision to be the airline that everyone wants to fly.”
