Etihad Airways carried some 3.5 million passengers within the first half of 2020, down 58 per cent from the 8.2 million reported in the identical interval of final yr.
The determine illustrates the affect the Covid-19 outbreak has taken on the aviation sector this yr.
The Abu Dhabi flag-carrier recorded a core working lack of US$758 million, having misplaced US$586 million throughout the first half of 2019.
The drop was pushed by a 38 per cent drop in income, which stood at US$ 1.7 billion throughout the first six months of the yr.
Tony Douglas, group chief govt officer, Etihad Aviation Group, mentioned: “Etihad confronted a set of monumental and unpredictable challenges within the first six months of the yr.
“We began 2020 sturdy, and recorded encouraging outcomes as a part of our persevering with transformation programme.
“This left us in a comparatively strong place when Covid-19 hit, permitting us to behave with agility, and to mobilise all accessible sources because the disaster deepened, taking main steps to scale back prices via a wide-reaching collection of measures.”
Etihad operated as much as 40 of its fleet of 97 passenger plane in quarter two of 2020.
Between March 25th and June 15th, over 640 particular passenger flights had been operated to 45 on-line and offline locations, utilizing the passenger cabins of those plane to fly international nationals out of the United Arab Emirates.
Nonetheless, the airline noticed a big lower in quarter two working revenues following Covid-19 flight suspensions, with 70 per cent of its fleet grounded.
This era registered a 99 per cent drop in passenger numbers and a 95 per cent drop in ASK in comparison with quarter two of 2019.
“Whereas we now have revised our outlook for the remainder of 2020 based mostly on present realities, we stay optimistic that as worldwide borders re-open, we’ll enhance our flying and carry extra visitors.
“By September, we goal to extend our worldwide flights to half our pre-Covid-19 capability,” concluded Douglas.
