Etihad Airways is keen to expand its network in the US, the airline’s president & CEO, James Hogan, said in Washington DC today (Thursday 15 November 2012).
The Abu Dhabi-based airline currently operates direct flights to New York and Chicago, with services to Washington DC commencing in March 2013. And Hogan revealed that these US routes were some of the best performing in the Etihad network, with an average load factor in 2012 of 81% and strong demand for the airline’s premium cabins.
Hogan is in the US capital this week for a series of meetings, and will deliver the keynote address at a US-UAE Business Council luncheon, where he will discuss the airline’s US growth strategy.
“With increasing ties between the UAE and US, both government and private sector, we see a demand for premium services between Washington DC and Abu Dhabi,” said Hogan. “As we build our operations at Washington DC, we are also keen to expand further in the US and we are examining a number of other destinations, particularly on the West Coast.
“The point-to-point market will be supplemented by strong traffic flows over Abu Dhabi onwards to destinations across Asia, particularly the Indian Subcontinent. With the addition of services to Ahmedabad this month, we now serve nine destinations across India.
“Building complementary networks to support business and passenger flows across the globe is a key part of Etihad Airways’ hub strategy – the growing number of connections between the US and India is a perfect example of this,” Hogan added.
In addition to its own services, a codeshare with American Airlines enables Etihad’s passengers to travel to Los Angeles and Dallas-Fort Worth.
