Efficiency and collaborating to forge a more sustainable future are priorities, according to airlines that spoke at last week’s Arabian Travel Market in Dubai.
Speaking in a session on the future of airlines Adel Abdullah Al Ali, board member and group chief executive of Air Arabia, said:
“It has been a difficult two years, but I believe as an industry, we have adapted to meet those challenges.
More: ATM 2022: Event hailed a success after visitor numbers double
“The period also forced the airline industry to reflect on what was working and what wasn’t. In our case, this has led to an even greater focus on efficiency.”
Air Arabia and Etihad worked in partnership to open up Air Arabia Abu Dhabi during the Covid pandemic in July 2020.
The carrier was profitable in each quarter of 2021, with the codeshare agreement with Etihad Airways cited as a major role in its success.
The airline has recently launched 44 new routes and is preparing to take two new airlines to the skies this summer with ‘Fly Jinnah’ in Pakistan, and ‘Fly Arna’ in Armenia.
Air Arabia’s 60-strong fleet is expected to triple in the coming months with 120 aircraft on order and a goal of 160-200 planes by the year 2030.
Al Ali said: “Our philosophy has been that size doesn’t matter to Air Arabia, profitability does.’’
Tony Douglas, group chief executive of Etihad Aviation Group, said: “Leading up to 2017, Etihad Airways was heavily focused on accelerated growth leading to the airline becoming overstretched.
“Big is not necessarily beautiful and what you can commercially sustain from a profitability point of view is the name of the game moving forward.”
Douglas said he undertook a radical restructuring at Etihad Airways when he joined in 2017 to create an airline where the fleet was driven by the network, rather than the other way round.
The airline achieved its best ever performance in the first quarter 2020 and as the pandemic hit reduced the size of its fleet size.
In the first three months of 2022 Etihad Airways reported $272.2 million EBITDA and delivery of more environmentally friendly Airbus A305s and Boeing Dreamliners as the fleet was expanded.
Douglas said: “The sustainability challenge for aviation will be around for generations to come and the physics of flight doesn’t represent an easy answer any time soon.
“The new airliners are poster children to demonstrate what is feasible and achievable today. To really make an impact, airlines, governments, manufacturers, regulators and policy makers – as well as consumers – need to work together to make a significant environmental impact.”
Al Ali said both airlines are looking to the future with optimism. “It’s great to be getting back to normality and my experience at ATM 2022 so far has shown a huge pent-up demand for travel.
“While higher fuel prices represent an obvious challenge, we expect the demand for travel in this region to remain strong and are hopeful for the future.”
More: ATM 2022: Event hailed a success after visitor numbers double