Etihad Airways president and chief executive James Hogan has emphasised the importance of consumer choice and innovation as the “fundamental drivers of competition in the international airline industry”.
“What we bring to the market is competition, we bring fantastic choice in regard to product and services,” said Hogan.
He highlighted the impact of rapidly growing markets like China, India and Southeast Asia on international traffic flows and traditional international hubs.
He also discussed Etihad’s business model which extends the airline’s organic growth through codeshare partnerships and equity investments in key global airlines, including airberlin, Air Serbia, Air Seychelles, Aer Lingus, Alitalia, Jet Airways, Virgin Australia, and Swiss-based Darwin Airline, serving a network of more than 500 destinations worldwide.
The airline’s hub in Abu Dhabi now serves as a gateway between the Middle East, Asia and Australia and destinations in Europe and America.
Hogan told attendees at the 2015 Global Business Travel Association Convention in Orlando: “Our equity strategy is about how we build our network. We work in a digital age where the consumer, whether it’s corporate or leisure, can go online and they look to points of the world they wish to travel.
“Now within that, we have a partnership with these airlines where we’re now strengthening our global network – top line generating revenue and bottom line tackling cost together."
Etihad’s A380 will make its debut in the US on December 1 when Etihad Airways inaugurates the airline’s first A380 service between New York’s JFK Airport and Abu Dhabi.
