An Airbus A380-800 jetliner operated by Etihad Airways is on display at the 2017 Dubai Air Show, an international aviation and aerospace event.
Marina Listseva | TASS | Getty Images
Etihad Airways unveiled a $7 billion investment plan over the next five years on Wednesday, aiming to “double the size of the airline by 2030.”
Speaking to CNBC's Dan Murphy, Etihad Group CEO Antonioaldo Neves revealed that passengers should expect to “see a completely different airline in the next two to three years.” airline”.
He said much of the $7 billion would be used to retrofit the existing fleet and further purchase new aircraft. The Abu Dhabi-based airline currently has 92 aircraft in operation. But Neves has his sights set on the skies, hoping to have as many as 170 aircraft by the end of the decade.
He said the expanded aircraft network would allow the airline to offer more “convenient” flight times to travelers to Europe and Southeast Asia who want to travel at 2pm rather than early morning.
Neves said Etihad would start retrofitting and retrofitting its “obsolete” Boeing 777 aircraft from 2026 due to what he called “the constraints we face in the global aviation market”.
“There are no planes available,” he said.
Purchasing new aircraft, retrofitting Boeing 777s, increasing the number of business class seats and replacing existing in-flight WiFi with stronger connections are among the priorities for the United Arab Emirates-based airline.
“Product is very important, customer service is very important,” Neves said.
opening Abu Dhabi’s new terminal opened in November last yearNeves believes Etihad's 16 daily flights have strengthened the airline's competitive advantage.
Two years ago, the airline served 10 million passengers. The airline has carried 18 million passengers since the beginning of the year.
Amid speculation about a possible IPO in 2025, there is also an incentive to improve profitability.
Neves said it has not yet been decided when, not if, the airline will go public.
“It's really important for the airline to go public, right? Because ultimately, although we don't need the cash in the next five to six years to deploy this $7 billion of capital. One day, if we decide to accelerate, we can even grow.” , we may need capital and the ability to leverage different funding sources to fund our growth may be important in the future,” Neves said.
Etihad Airways is “working hard to prepare for an initial public offering (IPO)”, adding that the airline's sovereign wealth fund shareholder ADQ – wholly owned by the Government of Abu Dhabi – has “invested heavily in their company” Investing, that’s no secret to anyone”. Get ready to lead the launch. ” ADQ is the smallest of Abu Dhabi’s three sovereign wealth funds and is chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al-Nahyan, brother of the UAE’s current president. .
in a report Published by ReutersEtihad Airways could go public as early as 2025. The war in Gaza and rising tensions between Israel and Lebanon have created new problems in the Gulf.